Destiny's Call: The tales of a foreigner in a familiar land
by Zenith Starwalker
Summary: I'm willing to bet that a lot of Bronies would love to visit the land of Equestria; if only to see it. I sorta got that wish... instead I find myself in a human variant of it known as Arcania. Not that I'm complaining of course, the day I got raptured over here was a college day anyway. (My apologies for some chapters lacking the pictures described in the story, they didn't import)
1. Chapter 1: Waking up in another world

Chapter 1: Waking up in another world

The first thing I saw the moment I opened my eyes was a rather clear image of a bluish-purple crystalline ceiling. Now the ceiling itself wasn't the first thing that confused me, rather the fact that I COULD see it clearly to begin with. For those of you who don't know, I had to wear glasses to compensate for my poor vision. The second thing that confused me was the fact that I woke up fully clothed in my breaking paradigms t-shirt and lucky brand jeans. Since I typically tend to sleep in just my undergarments, this situation kinda befuddled me (yes I sleep in the buff, don't judge me!).

Spotting a dresser with a mirror on it, I hopped out of the rather comfy bed I was situated on and walked closer to see my reflection. What I saw only added more to my growing sense of confusion and slight apprehension, staring back at me were the crimson eyes of a teenage boy who looked just like me (probably because he was). My first thought was '_Oh God, I hope I haven't turned into one of those queer sparkly vampire types_'

The other thing I noticed was that I had fairly well-toned muscles leading from my arms into what I suspected was my chest and abdomen. It looked like a cross between a body builder and a runner's build. Now don't get me wrong, I always ate relatively healthy and exercised modestly but I never lifted enough in the gym to get anywhere near this kind of muscle mass. I mentally shrugged it off since I tend not to question blessings, strange as they are. '_So this is what Peter Parker felt like his first day as Spider-man_' I amusingly thought.

I saw something rather familiar lying next to the dresser, so I stooped down to pick it up. Turns out it was the Swiss army backpack that I would have gone to College with today had I not woken up wherever the hell I was right now. Deciding that now was a good time to take inventory I unzipped the bag to find its contents containing my laptop, IPod touch, some of my clothes, what looked like a red wooden baton, and a myriad of other useful things. The most attention grabbing of these items was a pack of what looked like smoke grenades and flashbangs.

"Sweet" I remarked to myself, satisfied knowing I could make a quick escape Batman style if I ever needed to. There was also a card in one of the zippers with an inscription on it which I picked up. As I looked at it I decided to read it aloud to myself. "May these provisions aid you in your travels, for what you accomplish here will go down in history's annals"

'_What?_'I confusedly thought. As if on cue, I heard the only door in the room squeak open and what looked like a woman in her mid-thirties slowly enter the room. Upon noticing me she spoke in a gentle voice.

"Oh my, you're finally awake"

"Indeed I am" I responded neutrally.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Given the circumstances, pretty good I guess" I answered modestly.

I used the ensuing and slightly awkward silence that followed to get a better look at my 'host'. She had brownish-blond hair tied up in a curly coiffure that reminded me of the ancient Greeks with light blue eyes and was wearing an off white dress. She was of average height at around 5 feet and 5 inches. She also had tattoos of what looked like a ray of light shining through an orb of glass on the back of both her hands.

The time it took me to make these superficial observations had been no longer than a couple of seconds and the woman could clearly see that I was not going to be the one carrying the conversation so she decided to speak up.

"My name is Crystal Clear, may I know your name?" she asked of me.

Thinking quickly about the alias I would use in case I ever found myself in such a bizarre situation I replied.

"Zenith"

"Zenith? That's an unusual name for a Valkyrian" she remarked.

"Valkyrian?" I asked with no small amount of puzzlement in my voice.

"Oh my, your arrival must have left you more discombobulated than I thought" She said with some worry in her tone as she furrowed her brow in thought.

"Yeah… I been meaning to ask, how did I get here exactly?" I said while pointing a finger to the ground.

"Perhaps we should have this discussion someplace with seats and a nice cup of tea" she proposed.

"Okay, got anything minty?" I politely requested.

"Let's go down to the kitchen and find out shall we?" She responded with a small smile.

I motioned for her to lead the way and followed her down the crystalline hallway to the equally crystalline stairs which we promptly descended.

As we ventured toward Crystal Clear's kitchen, my mind was a torrent of thoughts. Many of them less than positive, scenario after scenario ran its course through my addled brain. Pertinent questions were asked in rapid succession, and answers were sparse at best. I shook my head to clear most of them and focused on keeping a cool and level mind. I always believed fear to be an emotion of unwanted burden, why be afraid when you can be cautiously optimistic instead?

As we reached the bottom of the stairs to an opening leading to what looked like the kitchen, Crystal Clear motioned for me to have a seat at a small dining table to which I obliged before making off to brew tea for the both of us. I took that moment to take in my surrounding a little bit more; it looked a lot like your average kitchen, barring the crystalline nature that seemed to comprise the entire structure of the house. I noticed Crystal Clear returning with two steaming cups of what was probably tea in her hands.

"I couldn't find anything with mint leaf extraction in it" she spoke in a slightly regretful voice, "So I made us both, Pearl Grey tea instead" She said appeasingly.

'_Pearl Grey? Never heard it called that before._' I thought whimsically.

"That's quite alright, I've never been too picky when it came to my choice of tea" I replied in a contented tone.

While we both sipped at our tea, I decided to ask the question that weighed on my mind the most.

"So can you explain to me the circumstances of my being here?" I inquired.

She thought for a moment before explaining.

"Yours is a most confusing ingress into our kingdom. I was strolling along the edges of our kingdom's temperature acclimatization boundary when I witnessed the oddest phenomena, the surrounding light dimmed as if eclipsed before I saw a bright flash and heard a noise like a muted thunderclap. Curiosity surpassed my fear and I went to investigate, that was when I found you lying on the grass asleep with your belongings next to you. My first thought was that you were a stellar mage and you botched up a teleportation spell, no offense of course! So imagine my surprise after I brought you to my home and I discovered that you were Valkyrian instead."

I took that moment to politely interrupt; "You called me that before, what is a Valkyrian?"

"You don't know? Valkyrians are the inhabitants of Arcania that have the gift of flight."

"Wouldn't that require wings though?" I dubiously spoke, mentally filing away the name Arcania.

She motioned at me to look behind at my back, to which I obliged, what I saw made my eyes widen a little in disbelief. A pair of what looked like red semi opaque ethereal wings sprouted from my shoulder blades. '_How did I not notice that earlier!?_' In all honesty they reminded me of Lilith's Siren wings from Borderlands 2, except the feather shapes and overall structure were more pronounced. '_So that's what the odd sensation on my back was!_'

The only words that came out of my mouth were, "Huh, well that's certainly new…"

Crystal looked at me in confusion before speaking "Were you not a Valkyrian before?"

I shook my head and replied, "No… in fact I'm not even a native inhabitant of this Arcania you mentioned"

"Then from which land do you hail?" She inquired of me.

"America" I truthfully answered.

"America? I've never heard of such a kingdom" she remarked with confusion.

"It's not a kingdom of any sort, it's a Constitutional Republic with three branches of federal government with a division between federal and state government responsibilities" A year of advanced placement government in high school with a particularly finicky teacher had my lecture mode kicking in slightly.

"That sounds rather complicated" Crystal said with obfuscated look in her eyes.

"It is, and it's even more complicated in practice" I said earnestly, "Though democracy does have its virtues" I wore a slight smirk on my face.

"I've never really thought about it" spoke Crystal, "Our Royal family has always lead us well enough that we never paid the idea of ruling ourselves any thought"

"Well anyways, that's where I come from" I said, '_I think I'm starting to figure out where I am_'

"And did your people not have Valkyrians?" She asked.

"Can't say we did, we travelled through the skies via airplane" I answered with a shrug.

"Airplane? Is that some form of airship?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"What? Like a dirigible?" I asked to which she nodded to me.

"Well no, think of a large metallic bird with jets attached to the wings that provide thrust" I inelegantly depicted.

"That sounds fascinating!" She spoke with an awed tone in her voice.

"I suppose it is, it's certainly convenient for traveling long distances in a short amount of time" Describing it me realize how much I took the idea of commercial aviation for granted.

"Your home must be a wonderful place indeed to have such innovations" she spoke, lauding the modern amenities of my home.

"I guess, I paid it about as much thought as you've paid into democracy" I said with a dry tone in my voice.

"I can hardly believe I've never heard of such a land before" she spoke with slight skepticism, "Although I never studied maps enough to consider myself an expert on the lands beyond our own" she admitted abashedly.

At this point we had finished our tea which Crystal then collected and put away in the sink. She then walked back to the table and looked at me before speaking in a curious tone "So what do you think you'll do now Zenith?"

"I've yet to reach a definitive conclusion on that matter" I answered while rolling my shoulders and standing up.

"Do you think you could accompany me while I go out into the market to acquire groceries?" she asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. I gave it a millisecond of thought, why not? I've got nothing else demanding my attention at the moment.

"I would be delighted to be your escort milady" I spoke in an exaggerated Shakespearean tone as I bowed with a flourish. She giggled and played along.

"I would be honored my good sir" she replied and curtsied.

As we exited Crystal's home out onto the streets, I spied an all too familiar Citadel gleaming in the distance which only served to confirm the nagging suspicion I had in the back of my mind.

'_Eeyup, this looks like the human version of the Equestrian Crystal Empire_' I observed to myself.

"Zenith! Are you coming?" Crystal exclaimed in the distance, probably wondering why I was falling behind.

"Yeah let's get going!" I spoke as I rushed to catch up to her, my running shoes pounding against the solid indigo avenue. I had to admit that I was rather excited; I've always wanted to see what this place would be like in person!

'_What extraordinary things await me in this new land I wonder?_'


	2. Chapter 2: A somewhat average day in the

Chapter 2: A somewhat average day in the Krystal Kingdom

Having caught up with Crystal, we continued onwards to what I assumed would be the local market place along the most immaculate and shiny crystalline streets I had ever seen. Of course, they were the only crystal paved streets I've ever seen. We walked about town in an almost painfully slow pace, at least in my opinion. I tend to fast walk wherever I go and due to my above average height, I have a pretty long stride as well. Add in my usual mantra of 'Walk with purpose' and I always make good time whenever I walk somewhere, but I digress.

I used the tranquil lull to ask my companion a question, "Crystal, what are those tattoos on the back of your hands called?"

'_As if I don't know_'

She looked at them and then to me, "They are called Mana marks, Zenith"

'_Oh, in that case I stand corrected_'

"What do they represent?" I asked, despite knowing the answer full well.

"They are something every Arcanian obtains once they come of age, or more specifically once they realize what their special talent or calling in life is" she paused for a moment "For instance, my Mana Mark represents my keen perception into the nature of those around me" she explained.

"I see… would that make me a bland hand then?" I asked in a humored tone as I showed her my spotless backhand.

She laughed, "Heavens no!" she exclaimed between chuckles "Men don't get their Mana Marks on their hands"

"Where do they get them then?" I curiously enquired.

"Your Mana Mark would be on your shoulder sides dear" she said as we drew closer to the marketplace.

I made a personal mental note to see if I had one of these Mana Marks later. I also noticed that I was garnering some poorly hidden stares from the locals wandering about the place. I was guessing it had something to do with me being a Valkyrian with visually distinguishable wings, which therefore made me a _rarity_ (I mentally chuckled) compared to the general populace. Speaking of which, pretty much everybody I've seen so far seemed to look like normal humans; the rather exquisite array of hair colors and styles notwithstanding. I decided to ask Crystal about that.

"Hey Crystal?" She looked at me with that same cheery smile.

"What are the Arcanians without wings or the ability to cast magic called?"

"We are simply referred to as Agrarians" She replied.

"Agrarians?" She nodded to me.

"Mind telling me the etymology of that term?" I asked.

"Well… back in the times before Arcania was founded, our people were the most agriculturally gifted of the three clans due to our special connection to nature and all things that grow. In exchange for proper lighting and ideal weather conditions most conducive to growing crops, we made agreements with the skyborn and mage born clans to provide them with a good share of our harvests. Agreements that persist to this very day, although the royal sisters have taken up the role of raising and lowering the heavenly bodies" we finally reached the market right as she finished her little lecture.

"I can't imagine that all Agrarians take up agronomic oriented duties" I spoke with a doubtful tone.

"Of course not! The name is simply a part of our heritage and therefore stayed the official designation of our clan" she explained.

"Anything else that differentiates Agrarians from the other two clans?" I asked as my final question.

"Yes… of the three, we Agrarians are the hardiest" she said with some pride in her voice.

"How so?" I asked with some intrigue.

"Generally our kind is physically the strongest and the most enduring of the three, capable of dealing with great adversity and hardship through steadfast determination and conviction" she finished as we approached one of the stands.

The marketplace itself was what you'd typically expect to see at a renaissance fair, medieval style tents with triangular flags billowing at their tips and small banners suspended on strings connecting them to other tents. The marketplace stands were set up with wooden counters at their entrances being manned by vendors selling all sorts of goods. I even spotted vendors selling the crystal berries and crystal corn on the cob from the show (why it would be called that when it looks like ordinary corn is beyond me).

However, to my slight disappointment we did not stop at any of those stands, instead we opted to visit the more practical stands selling vegetables, fruits, and even *mental gasp* meat! Something I noticed was that the market prices weren't set (laissez-faire anyone?) and that bartering was the order of business, another thing I noticed was that Crystal had some commendable bargaining skills; understandable given her special talent, and was able to tell when someone was charging too much and even called them out on their bluffs when they claimed to have limited time offers or that they were the only vendor selling that particular product. Once a fair price was agreed upon, Crystal dispensed currency in the form of bits from a large pouch suspended at her side like some kind of medieval purse. All in all, we got a pretty good haul of groceries at a decent price in about an hour and a half of shopping and were heading back to Crystal's while I carried the paper bags for her (apparently they don't have plastic bags here).

"That was some pragmatic and efficient bartering you did back there, you're a natural!" I praised Crystal to which she smiled and blushed slightly.

"Thank you Zenith, that's very kind of you to say" she responded as we walked back to her home.

"What are the markets like back in your home?" Crystal decided to ask me.

"Well… for one there is no bargaining that has to be done" to which she looked at me in minor incomprehension.

"It's true. In fact, the market prices are set almost uniformly throughout the nation. You simply pay the price on the tag, excluding any sales taxes or what not and that's that" I finished explaining to her.

"The more you tell me about your homeland Zenith, the more fascinating it becomes to me" she said with a captivated tone.

"I haven't even begun to scratch the surface Crystal" I looked at her with a smug expression, knowing full well just how incredible the world I originated from was.

As soon as I finished that thought though, it finally dawned on me that I was essentially in another universe and about as far away from home as I could possibly get. My cheerful expression sagged a little bit and I did my best to hide it from Crystal, thankfully she didn't notice or if she did, realized that it would be best to not bring it up. It was about mid-afternoon by the time we reached Crystal's house and for the most part I quelled any negative thoughts about home or how my parents were probably freaking out right now and… _'Gah! I'm doing it again!'_ We dropped off the groceries in the kitchen and Crystal went to work sorting them into either the pantry or an icebox for all the items that needed to be chilled. When she was finished, she decided to ask me something.

"Zenith?" I looked at her from my position at the kitchen table.

"Have you ever been to a jousting match?" to which I shook my head.

"Can't say I have" I responded.

"Well I intend to change that, come with me!" she exclaimed as she grabbed my hand and led us out of the house once more.

After about ten minutes of dragging me about the kingdom, Crystal and I finally arrived at the jousting field. It was about a hundred feet in length and covered in dirt with a gem themed '_big surprise_' wooden divider in the middle separating the tracks. There were only bleachers on one side of the field which were about eight tiers high and could probably hold a good eighty or so people. They were close to half capacity at that moment, plus a dozen or so bystanders watching from the sidelines. Crystal and I sat midway up the bleachers and spectated while the opposing knights readied their somewhat Romanesque looking armor and blunted spears before mounting their steeds to face off against another.

Feeling a little bored, I leaned towards Crystal and spoke in a conspiratorial manner.

"Hey Crystal?"

"Yes Zenith?"

"Want to liven up the event and start a chant?" I grinned at her.

She considered me for a moment before nodding.

"Then follow my lead" I told her.

I stomped twice before clapping and repeating the pattern again which Crystal soon copied, the other bystanders looked curiously at us and some even joined in. I took that moment to sing one of my favorite rock anthems.

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise

Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day

You got mud on yo' face

You big disgrace

Kickin' your can all over the place

We will we will rock you!

We will we will rock you!

(At this point the majority of the crowd has joined in)

Buddy you're a young man hard man

Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day

You got blood on yo' face

You big disgrace

Wavin' your banner all over the place

We will we will rock you!

"Sing it!" I shouted to which the crowd obliged

We will we will rock you!

Buddy you're an old man poor man

Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

You got mud on your face

You big disgrace

Somebody better put you back in your place

We will we will rock you!

We will we will rock you!

We will we will rock you!

We will we will rock you!

At this point our little chant had the whole crowd pumped up and even brought in some more people who wanted to see what the hubbub was all about. The knights looked thoroughly amused by our display and put on a great show for their part, knocking each other off their horses using their blunted lances. People were blowing profusely on their crystal flugelhorns (_still better than those damn vuvuzelas!_) and cheering as the knights jousted against each other. And I was actually enjoying myself too, which I found odd since I rarely attended sporting events in the first place. As we left the jousting field, Crystal asked me about the chant I started to which I replied "I saw it in a movie once" and continued walking; ignoring her confused look.

By the time we returned to Crystal's, it was late evening and I had mostly forgotten about my earlier homesick problems '_I'll worry about that later_' and filed it away on my handy mental to do list. Crystal was in the kitchen setting it up to make supper when I decided to join in. I offered to prepare tonight's dinner which surprised Crystal more than it should have in my honest opinion.

"You can cook Zenith?" She asked in a perplexed tone.

"Uhm.. yeah I know how to prepare a good number of meals" I responded.

"I just find that so odd. Since most Valkyrian males; especially men of your age don't usually cook for themselves" She told me.

I scoffed slightly "Crystal, you've forgotten that I wasn't a Valkyrian before arriving here" to which she adopted a look of remembrance on her face.

"You should also know the belief that men of any kind cannot cook for themselves is a dirty stereotype where I come from" I chided her with a smirk, to which she had the good grace to look a little embarrassed.

"Besides, I was only going to make a chicken salad. Nothing terribly complicated" I said as I shrugged and walked into the kitchen to get chopping.

Ten minutes of preparation later and we were chomping down happily on our chicken salads. I was very pleased to discover that they actually had spicy ranch sauce in Arcania, which I drenched my salad with heavily while Crystal settled for balsamic vinaigrette on her salad. Both of us spent most of the meal making the usual dinnertime small talk. Crystal asking for more tidbits about home which I answered to the best of my ability while also enjoying my food. We finished our meals and I put the dishes in the sink and washed them, despite Crystal's insistence that I was her guest and therefore should let her do them. She capitulated when I told that it was tradition where I come from for the guests to pull their own weight while staying under the roofs of another. Once I was finished I asked Crystal if she wanted to see what I was talking about earlier when I said movie to which she agreed. I ran upstairs to the guest bedroom to grab my laptop out my backpack and returned to Crystal who was sitting on the guest couch in the living room.

"What is that?" She said pointing to the object in my possession.

"This" I tapped the cover "Is my laptop computer"

She stared in awe as I flipped it open and turned it on, the screen lighting up and the accompanying welcome chime greeting us. Crystal visibly flinched at the unexpected noise which caused me to chuckle, '_It's like I'm in Amish country_'

"What does this… laptop do?" She enquired, her eyes wide with wonder.

"A lot of things, but right now it's going to be tonight's entertainment" I said with a slight grin on my face, as I scrolled over to my iTunes movie list and selected 'A Knight's Tale'.

For the next two hours, Crystal was riveted as she watched William's struggle against the unscrupulous Adhemar for the hand of Jocelyn and the jousting tournament championship. When our little movie session was over she asked more about the movie itself and what kind of magic must have powered my device to be able to see into the lives of other people in such a manner, I shook my head and told her that it was merely the magic of cinematic movie making. She seemed skeptical as always but didn't question me further. (Now for those of you who are thinking, dinner and a movie? What's your angle? I am reminding you that I am most definitely NOT flirting with a woman who's probably more than ten years my senior)

It was getting pretty late so Crystal and I decided to retire for the night, I used that moment before we entered our separate rooms to thank her for looking after me while I was incapacitated. She responded by hugging me (much to my awkward discomfort) and said she would have done it for anybody who needed help before heading into her room and leaving me standing there in the hall with a perplexed look on my face. I shrugged to myself before entering my room and collapsing into my comfy bed, out like a light.


	3. Chapter 3: Learning to fly… mostly

Chapter 3: Learning to fly… or how to hug the ground for dummies

I woke early the next morning feeling quite refreshed. I just about jumped out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom to take care of the call of nature and to keep up my standard of oral hygiene. I noted with some interest that these people didn't seem to use toothbrushes since I couldn't find any; instead I only found a bottle of what looked like purple colored mouthwash. I got the impression from the shiny tooth logo on the front. Shrugging to myself, I popped the lid and took a swig; only to find out that this particular mouthwash had three times the burn of Listerine. Since the spiciest experience I ever had was eating three habanero chili peppers in one sitting and not chickening out to grab the milk (true story, I even remember the burning feeling going straight to my ears), I fought through the burn before gargling and spitting out the liquid into the sink. While the mouthwash itself didn't have any flavor, it left my mouth with an odd yet not unwelcome lavender flavored aftertaste and an immaculate freshness like no other.

I also took this opportunity to slowly lift the sleeves of my T-shirt to find…that my shoulders were the same as they were the day I was born, silky smooth and free of any mark. Now I'm sure a lot of guys in my position would be disappointed to find out they did not possess a mana mark. However, I was decidedly neutral about it since I never cared much for having pictorial designs on my skin to begin with. Shrugging to myself, I finished up in the bathroom and left to seek out my hostess.

I found Crystal downstairs in the kitchen already eating a bowl of oatmeal with a generous amount of cinnamon sprinkled on top. She acknowledged my presence with a nod (since her mouth was full) and I took a seat across from her at the round dining table. Once she finished most of her breakfast, she decided to speak up.

"Good morning Zenith"

"It certainly is a cheery looking morning" I agreed, appreciating the warm glow the Sun cast through the windows that were carved into the solid architecture.

"How did you sleep?" she enquired.

"Decently" I answered curtly.

Before the conversation delved further into that redundant morning talk I despised, I decided to ask Crystal about something that was on my mind since I woke up.

"Crystal?" I asked looking her in the eyes.

"Yes?" She answered after she swallowed the contents in her mouth.

"Does anyone else in the kingdom know about my… unique arrival?" I gingerly asked.

She thought for a moment before placing her spoon on the table and responding.

"I don't believe so; I was the only person around when I witnessed the event of your coming" she paused before continuing.

"The only person in the kingdom with enough magical affinity to sense the undoubtedly immense energies comprising your teleport into our land would be our Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or as she insists to be called… Cadence. And she would have sent guards immediately if she sensed you as a threat." She said in a somewhat mellow tone at the end.

"But" She continued, "I do not regret bringing you into my home in the slightest, you have been nothing but an absolute gentleman since I've gotten to know you" She smiled at me as she spoke but held a slightly wistful expression, one which I filed away in a metal folder for inspection later.

"Still" I said, "It must have taken a lot of faith and trust to bring a possibly dangerous individual into your household, and I am most grateful for your kindness" I spoke in my most appreciative tone and placed a hand on my chest and bowed my head to show my thankfulness. A bit dramatic, but I can be somewhat theatrical when given the proper reason to be.

"As I said before Zenith, I would have done it for anybody who needed it" She said while wearing the same cheery expression and giggling at my exaggerated display.

"On another note" I changed the touchy subject, "Is there a public library here?" I asked despite knowing the answer; didn't want to give away anything after all.

She nodded, "M'hmm, but you'll need a library card to check out any books" She walked over to one of her crystal counters and opened a drawer that was carved into it and pulled out a card and a paper sheet. She then handed it to me along with an added written list before speaking.

"I needed to check out some books myself but since it's on your itinerary, could you pick them up for me?" I nodded in affirmation.

"Wonderful! You can use my card to check out some books for yourself if you want, just tell Agatha I sent you" She instructed.

"Is Agatha the librarian?" I asked, to which she nodded.

After asking Crystal for directions to the library (turns out it was on the same street, go figure) I saw a few people from yesterday who recognized me from the jousting match and waved at me which I did my best to return. I made my way up the avenue to the library building, paying special mind to the crystal griffin statues next to the door '_I wonder if the griffins here are still chimeras_' Pushing the doors open I was treated to this sight.

'_Wow… you can practically hear the glimmer coming off those shiny bookcases_' I wryly thought. The library itself was only two floors in height but had another level below. There were only a paltry amount of people perusing the wide array of books in the library from what I could see. Walking inside I was almost immediately greeted by whom I assumed to be the librarian standing to my right. She looked to be in her late sixties and had very pale, almost white shades of magenta in her hair which was arranged in a bulbous shape which seemed to be a common hairstyle among the women here. On her hands was a mana mark of an unfurled parchment scroll. She was also wearing those god awful circular eyeglasses that you'd associate with old people too.

"Welcome to the Krystal Kingdom public library, how may I help you?" She said in a slight drone that suggested that she recited this greeting thousands of times before and it was getting as old as her.

"Yes, I'm here on behalf of Crystal Clear to check out some books for her" I looked down at the list she gave me before showing it to the librarian.

"Do you think you can point me in the direction of these specific titles please?" I politely enquired.

She read the list for a moment before pointing to the west wing of the library.

"You can find the crystal cookbooks in the culinary arts section and the fashion catalogues a few rows to the right of them" She directed for me with her hands.

"Also, do you have any all-encompassing books on flight techniques and the like?" I further asked her.

She thought for a moment before nodding her head, "Yes I believe so; it should be on the second floor in the aeronautics section"

"Cool, thanks for the help" I spoke to which she nodded and returned to her desk.

Considering the copious collection of codices, it took me a little longer to find Crystal's books than I would have liked. After compiling the books; a good three in total, I made my way upstairs to the aeronautics section. There were relatively few books here regarding flight techniques that I could find. It made sense considering that the population of the kingdom consisted almost solely of agrarians with the exception of their ruling prince and princess. However, I managed to find one book that matched my requirements. It was titled 'How to Soar for Skyborn' and had metallic wings on the front and back cover that looked a lot like this.

I sardonically noted that it was about the same thickness as my old advanced placement biology book back in high school. Opening it up changed my opinion of it, if only slightly. The font wasn't nearly as microscopic and had a great deal more pictures and diagrams of various flight techniques, styles, and terminology. I gathered all the books and headed downstairs to check them out. I pulled out the card that Crystal gave me from my left pocket and handed it and the books over to Agatha. I heard her mumble something that sounded like 'confounded newfangled identification credentials' while she scrutinized it. If I was to hazard a guess, she probably thought that the laminated library identification cards were too new fashioned for her old fashioned tastes. She then asked me a question after marking her records of the books being taken out of the library.

"You said you were checking out these books for Crystal Clear yes?"

"Indeed I am" I responded.

"What is your relationship with her?" She asked. I was expecting this question sooner or later so I thought about the answer ahead of time.

"She's acting as my caretaker during my stay in your delightful little city" I spoke earnestly.

"Make sure to be on your best behavior young man, Crystal is one of those I consider very dear to me" She said protectively.

"Of course! I always do my best to be courteous to others, especially if they're the ones who are hosting me" I said with utmost honesty.

She looked at me with a rather scrutinizing gaze, as if scanning me for any trace of deceit. Finding none, she nodded to me and spoke.

"Good, Crystal can be quite sensitive and I try my best to look out for her when I can"

"Don't know why she needs supervision, she seems like she's capable of looking after herself just fine" I said with a doubtful tone.

"You'd be surprised youngster" she said looking back down to her paperwork.

I shook my head in confusion before grabbing the books and making my way to the exit.

Heading back to Crystal's I couldn't help but reflect on what the librarian told me, what about Crystal could make her sound so susceptible as Agatha described? Did something happen in her past to cause emotional vulnerability? I decided to keep these questions to myself considering that I'm not the prying type. Although I did decide to be extra careful around her as a precaution. I knocked on the door to her house and waited for a moment before she opened up.

"Oh it's you Zenith, back already?" she said wearing the same cordial smile.

"Yeah, you make it sound as if I was quick as a wink, I couldn't have been less than twenty minutes" I smirked in amusement; I always did get my errands done sooner than most people expected.

"To take that short of a time to find my books for me would be considered efficient to me" she said in an impressed tone.

"Well anyway, here are your books" I handed her the three cooking/fashion related books while keeping mine in the crook of my arm, which it seemed she took notice of.

"So what book did you decide to check out?" she asked me curiously.

"Oh, just this book on Skyborn flight techniques and aerial history" I spoke casually before whipping it out. "Look! It even has wings on the cover, pretty classy right?" I showed her the metal wing adorned cover and wagged my eyebrows making her chortle at my antiques before looking it over.

"Oh my, that is a most eye catching cover" she looked at the book in wonder.

"But what do you need it for?" She asked and tilted her head at me.

"Well… since I don't exactly know how to use these" I gestured with my head to my empyrean wings, "I thought it most practical to find some sort of instruction manual regarding their usage, fortunately for me I found this in the upper floor of the library" I paused, "Although I can't help but wonder what a city consisting mainly of Agrarians would do with such a book to begin with, other than read it"

Crystal must have thought the same before seeing an inscription on the lower portion of the book cover. She pointed this out to me and I took a look, turns out that this book was relatively new and was donated from someplace in the grand city of Concordia.

"What's Concordia?" I asked Crystal.

"That's the capital city of Arcania" She told me.

'_Must be this world's version of Canterlot, which is strange because I half expected it to be called Camelot, guess some things are entirely original here_' I pondered about my subverted conjectures.

"Neat" I briefly vocalized, "Well I'm gonna go find someplace quiet and secluded to read this and see if I can't get myself airborne, I suspect that I'll be out for a while" I told Crystal to which she nodded in understanding.

"Be careful Zenith" she spoke in a conspicuously mother like tone.

"Don't worry; I have to test out my new ethereal appendages sometime. Might as well undertake it here while the light and wind conditions are good" I reassured her before bidding my farewell and turning to make my way to the grassy outskirts of the city.

I found myself a nice grassy knoll next to an open field after five minutes of my brisk walking speed. It really was a lovely day, the sun was shining, wind conditions were only slightly breezy, and I was pretty much ecstatic about the possibility of flying under my own power. I felt as if I could just leap into the air right now, but more realistic thoughts prevailed and I sat myself down to begin reading from my big book of flying.

Starting from the table of contents, I immersed myself in the rich world of Skyborn heritage. Before getting down to the basics of aerial arts itself, the book covered the history of the Valkyrian people, from their proud and organized militaristic origins and their dealings with the Gryphon people; who I found out were also human '_what was with the library statues then?_', their ability of weather manipulation which made them the stewards of climate conditions during the divided clan times (a continued tradition to the current day it added), and the role Commander Hurricane and his Attaché Private Pansy had in the founding of Arcania along with the other two clan's leaders and their respective advisers.

Moving on from the historical section of the book, I browsed the section on wing articulation and pre-flight stretches; I noticed a little footnote at the end that spoke of how to dispel and summon the wings at will. '_I can do that!? Sweet…_' I decided to read more into that later and stood up to begin getting better acquainted with my wings. Now, the sensation of wings on my back was similar to what I believe having ghost limbs would feel like (though my wings were essentially just that).

To put it into context, the closest thing it felt like was having two legs attached to your shoulder blades by the hip joints. Given the structural similarities between the two I guess it made some sense… or about as much sense as having ethereal wings sticking out of your back would make in the first place. Moving on, I gave my new-found wings a few experimental test flaps to get used to the motions; I spent about five minutes flapping them lightly in different angles before slowly putting more effort into them.

Much to my instant chagrin, I discovered that even a modest flap would ascend me several feet off the ground, causing me to lose focus and land flat on my ass, thankfully the grass managed to soften my landing. '_At least it doesn't take much effort to get airborne_' I sarcastically inferred. Getting up and brushing off loose blades of grass and ignoring the annoying wet green stains on my jeans I tried again; this time knowing how much effort to put into flapping to get me off the ground. I soon found myself hovering off the ground; taking about a flap per second to stay suspended in the same spot. Mentally high fiving myself for my slow but sure progress, I tried to orient myself parallel to the ground to move myself forward and optimize my aerodynamic profile. This part is what gave me the most issues, every time I leaned forward a disorienting feeling of having my lower organs in my throat (kinda like what you'd feel during a rollercoaster drop) would cause me to lose focus and fall flat on my face into the grass flavored dirt. To my great displeasure and mounting frustration this process repeated several times, before I finally managed to break the cycle and get myself flying through the air.

All of my previous irritation just… melted away as I experienced the wonder of flight. You know all the joy and thrills you would get from riding Tatsu at Magic Mountain? (If not, look up the front row cams on youtube). It was a lot like that, only magnified multiple times and I had full control of where I was going. I had direction over my roll, pitch, and even a little bit of yaw despite lacking any sort of tail rudders. I may have let out a few whoops and hollers here and there as I flew above the fields. It was quite simply, an exhilarating feeling; I felt as if the whole world was at my fingertips. It gave me a sense of complete and utter freedom.

After an hour or so of blissfully soaring through the skies around the grassy field, I decided to satiate another curiosity I've had since my arrival. Spotting some clouds not too far off from where I was, I swooped down to them and slowed myself using my wings as airbrakes as I reoriented perpendicular to the ground. '_Well, here goes nothing_' I thought as I ceased flapping my wings, slowly easing myself onto the white puffball that was a cloud. I felt the cloud sink slightly before becoming firm beneath my feet; I then proceeded to sit down. '_Wow… this is comfy_' I thought. One way to describe it was like sitting down on an extra padded sleep number mattress set on extra plush that was also cool to the touch. I noticed that the clouds here were still as wispy as the ones back home, though a good deal more compacted.

On a whim, I took a handful of cloud (it felt like moist cotton candy) and stemming from that thought, took a bite. Unsurprisingly, it tasted like cold water vapor. It was at that moment that I felt as if someone was watching me with ample beguilement, but I simply dismissed it as mild paranoia that my whacky antics were being observed. Deciding to get back to my book, I stood up and walked to the edge of the cloud '_Well this is a gutsy move for my first day of flight_' and swan dived off it. I used my wings to glide back down to the field where I left my book and landed. "Well that's one way to get your heart pumping" I dryly remarked to myself; my heart feeling like it was beating a thousand times a minute. '_I gotta do that more often! Always wanted to skydive_' I openly chuckled as I walked back to my book.

Picking it up, I opened back up to the part regarding the summoning and dispelling of wings. From what the book told me the manifestation of wings was apparent by default and a subconscious process, but could be consciously dismissed with relative ease; not unlike the clenching of one's hand into a fist. I focused on reigning in my wings based on the book's advice and felt a sensation flowing into my back. Opening my eyes, I looked behind me to see that I successfully dismissed my wings. Looking back at the book on how to resummon them, it told me to focus on the intrinsic need to feel the joy and freedom that only flight could bring. Thinking back to my earlier breath taking experience and the absolute jubilancy it brought me, I felt my wings return and flare open in a display that I found somewhat epic. I took note of the fact that my wingspan was only slightly longer than my arm span. Wondering if I could touch them, I ran a hand through; quite literally through them, and only felt a tingly sensation in response. I postulated that my intangible wings still had sensation in them, but weren't solid themselves. Giving myself a nod, I concluded that my afternoon flight practice session was a resounding success and resolved to return to Crystal.

Getting back, she almost immediately noticed the scuffs and dirtied clothes that I bore from my early failed attempts to get airborne and expressed a great deal of concern over them. I told her that some nicks and scratches were a small price to pay to learn how to fly, which I then jovially informed her that I did. She seemed happy for me but fussed over my soiled clothes, telling me that she'd have to launder them herself. I told her how much I'd appreciate that and asked her if I could use her shower.

"It's upstairs in the master bathroom, although the only hygiene products available might be too feminine for your tastes" she said to me.

"It's fine" I told her "I can swallow my masculine pride for the rest of the day and smell girly if it means cleanliness" I sighed and sagged my shoulders in a fake display of grief.

She merely laughed lightheartedly at my melodramatic demonstration "You are a strange one Zenith" she remarked at my unusualness.

"Well… they say pride goes before the fall, and I've taken my fair share of spills for the day" I said with a small and tired smile before heading upstairs to the shower.

After my refreshing albeit feminine scented cleansing, I discarded my dirty clothes in the hamper and headed to my room to rifle through my belongings to find new clothes. Donning my playboy penguin t-shirt and new pair of jeans, I continued sorting through my possessions. Coming across that intriguing red baton again, I closely scrutinized it to find a thin almost imperceptible seam in the wood on one end within a black stripe.

Pulling at what I assumed to be the handle, I unsheathed a blade that I instantly recognized as a Tantō from playing Far Cry 3. The blade was about eight and a half inches long and didn't seem to have the curve that you'd associate with most Japanese blades. Judging from how wickedly sharp the edge was, I don't think it needed one; this thing could probably split hairs down the middle with a minimum amount of effort. I sheathed the blade and was about to put it back in the backpack before I noticed a peculiar symbol mark which didn't look so much engraved as projected onto the pommel; it looked very much like this.

It may have been my imagination but the more I looked at it, the more it seemed like it glowed. Shaking my head to distract myself from the symbol, I placed the Tantō among the rest of my belongings and headed downstairs to have supper with Crystal. We talked about trivial things and how my flight session went, as well as the new recipes she learned from the cookbook that I checked out for her earlier. I helped her with the dishes before saying goodnight and heading back to my room to read more into the flight book. I read for a few hours before I felt my eyelids grow heavy and succumbed to the allure of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Lucrative and Perilous

Chapter 4: Lucrative and Perilous Opportunities

I woke up the next morning to find a note on my door written by Crystal. It explained to me that she would be out the rest of the day spending time with her sewing circle of friends and that I was to help myself to whatever was in the pantry downstairs, it also informed me that my clothes were washed and were drying on the clothes line. After taking care of morning business in the bathroom, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to scrounge up something for some breakfast.

To my grand amusement, I happened across a box of cereal that was entitled Arcani-O's in the pantry. Chortling to myself, I grabbed a carton of chilled fresh milk from the ice chest and sat down for my morning meal. The cereal itself was alright though I wouldn't exactly describe the taste as magical, closer to chewy fruit loops really. Despite my minor disappointment at the bland taste of breakfast I was still in high spirits for many reasons. I had read through most of the significant knowledge the flight book offered that I could apply to my own usage, and today was another chance for me to fly! I almost broke into a full blown smile I was so stoked, something that rarely ever happens given my usual stoic disposition.

I grabbed the book upstairs and after a moment's consideration, I reached into my backpack and equipped my Tantō between my rear belt loops '_Never know when I might need some protection_' I reasoned. Running downstairs I all but vaulted out the door on my way to the library.

The librarian Agatha wore a slightly shocked expression as I pretty much barged through the doors in my haste. Handing the book to her I spoke.

"Remember me? Just returning this book I checked out from yesterday"

She kept the baffled look on her face before speaking.

"Already? Was there something wrong with it?" She asked to which I shook my head.

"Not at all! In fact, it was just the right book for me. I learned a great deal about improving my flight technique from it!" I responded cheerfully.

"Well… I wasn't expecting it back so soon." She placed the book on a cart and marked a return books list.

"I bet you didn't expect me to be a speed reader either" I grinned at her, to which she looked vaguely amused before speaking.

"How is Crystal faring today?"

"Don't know. She left a note for me saying that she was hanging out with her sewing circle for most of the day" I responded with a shrug.

Agatha nodded her head in understanding "Ah yes that, I'm joining them myself after I close the library" She said as she shuffled more of her paperwork. Given the lull in conversation, I decided to satiate my curiosity.

"Hey Agatha? Whats with the Griffin statues next the entrance?" I asked.

"What about them?" She looked up at me and quirked a brow.

"Well… the actual gryphons are people like us right?" To which she nodded.

"Correct, although as a people they're a fair deal more prideful and sometimes arrogant compared to others" She explained in a lecturer's tone.

"So why are there statues of actual Griffins up front?" I raised my brow in befuddlement.

She put two and two together before laughing in a way that only old people do when youngsters ask them what they consider to be a silly question. When she finally stopped with her mirth she explained.

"I see what you're asking; the Gryphon people call themselves that because they aspire to be like the Griffins of myth. They wish to be proud, strong, and aggressive in their pursuit of prestige and recognition."

"Oh… I see" I said nodding in understanding, my curiosity having been satiated. '_So Griffins are still mythological here, how very ironic_' I shrewdly reflected.

"I find it odd for a Valkyrian not to know this" Agatha said incredulously.

"Yes, well let's just say I lived a sheltered life and leave it at that" I said turning away. "Thanks for the help!" I walked out the doors and past the aforementioned statues.

Since I hadn't really planned anything else for today, I decided to simply stroll around the city. Although city may be too generous a term, to be honest it couldn't have been any longer than a half mile in diameter. So I suppose town would be more accurate in terms of size and population. I didn't see a census posted anywhere but based on my reckoning of the average amount of people I've seen clustered per unit area of land, I'd say maybe a few thousand people inhabited the fair kingdom; give or take a few hundred. I don't study population density in detail so I might not be exactly precise, but this was my best educated guess.

Moving past my mental ponderings, I took the time to appreciate the beauty of the day. The sun was shining brightly as always; its rays causing the surrounding crystalline architecture to glisten in its light, though it was a tad bit overcast near the city outskirts. People were milling about with smiles on their faces as if they didn't have a worry or care in the world, except for the ones who were actually going about their business; they adopted a look of determination. '_Gotta put those bits in the bank somehow_' I mentally chuckled. I continued my little trek down the gem-lined pathways leading away from the Crystal Citadel when I noticed a street vender on the side waving me down.

Having nothing else to do, I impassively approached him. He was a bit on the short and pudgy side and wearing the kind of apron that you'd see hot dog vendors in New York put on. Because he was wearing a tank top beneath that I was able to discern his mana mark; which was a sprig of wheat alongside a loaf of bread. He had multi-tone hair colors (something quite prevalent among the Kingdom's inhabitants I've noted) of browns and lighter browns that were befitting of the bread he sold.

He looked me up and down as if sizing me up before speaking in a coarse voice matching the aliments he sold even more so.

"Hey kid, you wanna make a few bits?" He asked, finding whatever he saw to be adequate for a job.

"That's depends" I cautiously answered "What will I be doing to earn them?"

"You may not have noticed, but the excessive cloud cover is and has been shrouding my wheat fields for the past few weeks" He spoke while motioning upwards with his eyes before continuing "And since our kingdom's Princess hasn't seen fit to bring in a weather team yet to tend to our fields, my crops growth is more stunted than usual. Now seeing a Valkyrian wandering the streets looking like he has nothing but time on his hands is something of a welcome relief for me. Do you think you can make use of those wings your people were gifted with? I'll make it worth your while." He grinned hopefully at me.

"Uhm… sure, lead on I guess" I said in an uncertain tone, to which he nodded and smiled before disrobing his apron and placing a placard saying 'Sorry, we're temporarily closed!' on the top of his bread cart. He motioned for me to follow him and we walked towards the enshrouded farmland outskirts of the Kingdom.

I was feeling quite glad I read up on the weather manipulation section of the flight book. It wasn't all that complicated a subject really, moving a cloud was simply a matter of pushing or pulling them in the direction you wanted them to go. Dissipating them was a matter of striking them with the intention of breaking them apart; the reason it worked like that was obvious, otherwise if you were to just land roughly on a cloud it would dismantle itself and you'd be up shit creek without a paddle (pardon the expression). Rainclouds were similar, although they could discharge lightning if you struck them with that intention in mind (something I couldn't wait to try once I got the chance). Wingpower was tied to physical fitness, the more in shape you were, the more wingpower you could pump out. Working in conjunction with other Valkyrians can result in vortexes that could demolish large cloud banks or lift quantities of water up to the floating city of Stratopolis (this world's version of Cloudsdale I assumed) for the production of rainclouds and other water intensive weather processes.

Because this frigid region of Arcania has an overabundance of water trapped in snow and ice, evaporation by the sun actually causes rainclouds to occasionally form here. Though it's more like freezing rain and sleet if it does not make rainfall over the Kingdom where the air is drastically warmer. Wondering why there was no weather team in the Kingdom I turned to my companion and asked him.

"So why isn't there a weather team here?" to which he shrugged and said.

"Don't know the specifics; our request for a weather team probably got mired down in paperwork" We arrived at what I assumed was his wheat fields.

"I'm Thin Wheat by the way" He extended his hand which I shook.

"Call me Zenith" I responded, resisting a chuckle at his ironic name "So how do you want me to handle this?" I motioned at the field.

"I take it you haven't done weather work before?" He asked to which I just shook my head "Didn't think so, I was guessing you more a fashion related type" He assumed.

This caused me to raise my brow in confusion "What makes you say that?"

He pointed to my shirt "Designer shirts aren't exactly common here, especially ones like… that" He was probably referring to the swanky looking playboy penguin chilling like a boss on my chest.

I simply shrugged my shoulders "Maybe I just like wearing non- sequitur designer shirts, doesn't make me some prissy fashionista by default" For some reason a shudder traveled up my spine, as if I insulted someone far away and they were glaring in my direction.

"Fair enough" He dropped the subject "Anyway, I simply need you to disperse the clouds that have been hanging over my fields for me"

"And what do I receive in turn?" I asked in a businesslike manner.

He scanned the skies over his fields and mentally appraised the value of clearing them of clouds. When he was done he looked at me and spoke.

"Well…since you're the only Valkyrian in town and I need my crops growth as unimpeded as possible till the actual weather teams arrive, how about seventy bits?"

Now, I haven't exactly adjusted the value of bits to dollars in my mind yet. But based on what I saw in the marketplace with Crystal, a trio a tomatoes only costs on average a couple of golden bits (one bit if you're as well versed in reverse psychology as Pinkie Pie or Bugs Bunny) I've seen silver bits as well, although I don't know if they're of lesser value or a different value altogether. So seventy bits seemed like a fair deal to me.

"Sounds like you've got yourself a sunlit field to look forward to" I told him before giving myself a running start and leaping into the air to clear some clouds. '_Time to put that book's knowledge to the test_' I thought as I approached the edge of the cloud bank overshadowing Sweet Bread's fields. Pulling back a fist, I slammed it into the nearest cloud. The effect was instantaneous as the cloud busted into puffs of smaller cloud that vanished as they dissolved. Smirking to myself, I charged on ahead into the cloud bank, punching and kicking clouds as I went along. I moved up and down the cloud bank in a fashion akin to a lawnmower as I cleared the sky over the wheat fields. It took about twenty minutes for me to clear the majority of the clouds before landing on the last one to take a quick breather. Looking over the edge, this sight greeted me.

I humorously noted that the outline of the Kingdom resembled a snowflake, and that a small river flowed through the fields at a four'O clock position relative to the front of the citadel. '_Probably water runoff from the surrounding mountains_' I thought. I saw a sports stadium located just behind the citadel, where they hosted their athletic events; probably made for a spectacular ice skating rink too I imagine. I took special interest in how much I could see and in such detail, almost like I was looking at it with binoculars. I then recalled a section in the flight book mentioning how Valkyrians had more enhanced visual and auditory senses compared to the other two clans, probably for navigational and communicational reasons while in the air I wager. We also had a much higher natural tolerance to the cold due to how much time we spend in the gelid air at higher altitudes. '_Look at me! I'm already referring to myself as one of them!_' I scoffed at the ridiculous thought. No way am I conforming now of all times, not me.

Feeling recuperated enough; I stood up on the cloud before stomping on it with the intention of bursting it. Acting quickly, I oriented myself facing downwards before pulling out of my skydive using my wings and landing on the ground. '_God that never gets old_' I blissfully thought as I walked towards Sweet Bread. Lazy bastard was sitting on a lawn chair all that time; he looked up at me before nodding in approval.

"Gotta say, watching you work was more entertaining than I thought it'd be" He put on a smarmy grin.

"Glad I was such a spectacle" I sarcastically replied before looking at him expectantly and speaking. "Our agreement?" To which he reached under his chair and tossed me a bag full of coins that landed with a 'clink!' in my right palm. Peeking inside the bag revealed to me its golden contents of nickel sized coins. After counting up the bits and noting that they were all golden I decided to ask him a question.

"Could you tell me what the difference between gold and silver bits is?" I inquired, since I saw silver bits being exchanged at the marketplace when I was with Crystal.

"I think the silver bits are of the coinage of Stratopolis, they're recognized as equal in value to golden bits. Though I think the native Valkyrians living there prefer to use the silver bits. Shouldn't you know this?" He looked at me with slight suspicion.

"I've never been to Stratopolis, born and raised on the ground" I truthfully replied to which he hummed thoughtfully before shrugging in dismissal.

"Well anyways, pleasure doing business with you" I said as I turned and walked away.

"Likewise, I'll be sure to refer you to my colleagues if they need their skies tended to!" He shouted as I made my way towards the center of the kingdom.

I tossed my newly acquired bag of bits up and down in my hand as I made my way through town. Waving back at all the friendly people who waved to me and offered amicable smiles, I idly wondered why the people here were so gosh darned happy; then I remembered that I was in the Krystal Kingdom, where so long as love and harmony pervade, it will charge the very air with its harmonious influence. I might sound like I was waxing poetic, but that really seemed to be the case here. I was silently glad that I seemed to be immune to the Kingdom's detestable charm, if I was to be happy it was going to be on my own terms. I took a gander at the many stalls here and there offering their various goods to pass some time, I even stopped at one of the Crystal nectar stands to see what the hubbub about it was. Tossing the nectar vendor a couple bits I grabbed a frothy mug and downed it. '_Meh, overrated sugary berry cider is overrated_' I thought as I set the empty mug down. I heard some commotion coming from behind me and saw a trio of cloak garbed men arguing over something by a billboard with various postings on it. A particular red and yellow posting caught my attention as I walked over to read it.

**'Attention! A bounty has been placed on a feral creature that has been raiding our livestock fields and killing sheep. The bounty in question totals four thousand bits, not including any possessions the creature might have in its holdings. Those who wish to make claim to the bounty must bring proof of the creature's demise to the local authorities at the office of domestic affairs.'**

While I was reading this, I also covertly listened in on the three men's quarrel.

"I'm telling you Bastion, this won't end well. We need at least one more man!" A slim light blue haired man was saying to this buff blond haired guy who looked adamantly on.

"Someone has to slay the Blizzard Beast Arrow! My Uncle happens to be one of those whose livestock have been slaughtered!" He indignantly replied.

"I think both of you have a point" Said a silver haired man leaning to the side watching his two companions argue. "We'll need one more man before we can even think of attempting such a dangerous undertaking, preferably someone who can scout from the air" He said, turning his gaze toward me.

"Who me?" I asked, wary of their attention "I'm not exactly a trained combatant" I apprehensively replied.

"You don't need to be" The silver haired man said "We just need someone to help us track this beast down so we can slay it, a Valkyrian like you could aid us in this endeavor"

"How so?" I asked in curiosity.

"This beast thinks that it is clever, assaulting our livestock pens and escaping into the wild during fierce blizzards. Hence its name" The man I recognized as Bastion spoke to me.

"But my Uncle placed collars on his sheep" He smirked like he knew something the beast didn't "Collars that can be tracked" He added as his smirk grew into a portentous smile.

"You'll be assisting us by spotting any tracks the beast may have left behind and being our eye in the sky. Plus this beast cannot fly, so having you along will give us an additional advantage" Grey hair said eagerly as he examined my wings.

"How come the local guards don't handle this?" I enquired of them.

"Our Prince doesn't believe this to be a matter that requires the attention of the guards" All three shook their heads and grumbled something that sounded like 'Limp dick royalty'.

"He doesn't look like he has a weapon" The man known as Arrow pointed out.

"Looks can be deceiving" I smugly said as I drew my Tantō and held it out; the blade glistening in the sunlight as it caught its rays.

"That toothpick?" He scoffed and shook his head "Not much of a weapon" He castigated my means of protection. I was about to retort when silver hair intervened.

"It's enough to count as him being armed" The silver haired man said before continuing "So how about it? You help us rid our Kingdom of this hindrance and get an even share of the bounty" He held out his hand.

I thought long and hard about it. I mean… hunting down and killing a savage beast isn't exactly in my credentials, but I guess you never know until you try. I looked at the silver haired stranger before taking his hand and shaking it.

"You got your scout" I said in an evenhanded tone.

"Splendid! I'm Silver Sword; the two behind me are Ardent Bastion and Piercing Arrow as you may have guessed. We three are part of the local militia and therefore have been trained in all manners combat related" He spoke with great zeal.

"Does that make you trained monster slayers as well?" I asked in a slightly dubious tone.

"Of course!" He retorted "ALL manners combat related" He emphasized.

"Okay… so how are we doing this?" I asked.

"We planned to leave while there was still light out; we have enough provisions for all four of us to last a few days, though you might want to purchase more armor than your current attire provides" Silver amusedly spoke as he examined my swanky t-shirt.

"I'm supposed to be your scout right? That means that when it comes to the actual combat, I won't be directly participating. Plus I don't want any armor weighing me down and restricting my movement" I reasoned, plus armor sounded expensive.

"Suit yourself" He shrugged.

"I should probably let my caretaker know I'll be out hunting for blizzard beasts" I said mostly to myself.

"That's fine with us; we'll be waiting by the eastern outskirts of the Kingdom. Don't keep us waiting too long" Silver spoke as he and the other two left to make their way to the edges of the city.

I hurried on back to Crystals to grab a few things and to say farewell. '_Hope she's there, otherwise I'll have to leave a note explaining my absence. Actually… explaining to her that I'm going monster hunting in the first place might not go over so well_' I bleakly thought. What should I do? Lie to her and say that I'm just going on a camping trip with some recently met acquaintances or tell her the full truth? Crystal has been nothing but affable to me since I got here; I mean she's sheltered me in her own home! Lying would probably come back to bite me in the ass so I decided to go the truthful route. Probably wouldn't hurt to explain why I'm aiding in a monster hunt too.

Reaching her door, I stopped and hesitated briefly before knocking. She opened up and smiled brightly when she saw that it was me. '_That smile isn't making this any easier for me_' I gave her a lopsided one in return.

"Hello Zenith, how was your day?" She asked while ushering me inside.

"It's been great so far, made a fair amount of bits clearing the skies over a bread vender's crops" I said showing her the bag.

"That's wonderful! Our crops will grow so much better with a Valkyrian tending to the skies, I'm glad you found an outlet for your skills" She gleefully spoke.

"Well it wasn't like I was hired for a job or anything. It was more of a mutually beneficial proposition" I said while shaking the bag, which clinked in emphasis. "Though he did say he'd tell his fellow farmers about me" I added as a side note.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about" My tone became more serious which grabbed her full attention.

"What is it?" She hesitantly asked.

"I came across three men who more or less beseeched me to help them with a problem plaguing the livestock owners" At this her eyes widened considerably.

"You mean the Blizzard Beast!?" She gasped.

"Yea, how did you know?" I asked.

"One of my friends' husbands is among those whose livestock have been butchered" She shook her head fervently "Oh Zenith, you mustn't go! It's too dangerous, you might be killed!" She pleaded with me.

"Relax Crystal, I'm just acting as their scout while they track the beast, I won't be in any serious danger" '_At least I hope not_' I morosely thought "Besides, they're part of the local militia, so they're trained to handle this stuff" Despite my reassurances, Crystal remained adamantly against the idea of me going out to slay monsters. This went back and forth until I finally grew exasperated.

"Listen Crystal, I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing…but you're not my mother. This is my decision" I spoke in a tone which indicated finality.

She flinched as if struck, before she sunk to her knees and started lightly sobbing. '_Is she crying? Not good_' I tensed myself subconsciously for an emotionally intense moment.

She spoke in a choked voice "No… I'm not your mother, but I don't want to lose you like I lost my son!" She wailed in despair, and I fully realized I just accidentally struck a serious nerve. I was quickly by her side before embracing her in what I hoped was a consoling hug. She didn't make any effort to shake me off, so I continued comforting her before speaking in a reconciliatory tone.

"I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to bring back any tragic memories. Especially those of losing a loved one" I said regretfully, she gathered herself together as best she could before speaking mournfully.

"He was so young, eyes so full of life and love and happiness. Then that vile monster Sombra" She practically spat the last word "Enslaved our kingdom and all of its inhabitants, my boy was among those considered too weak to contribute to the labor. So he was…cast out into the wild to be devoured along with the others he deemed useless. The Princesses came to our aid not long afterwards and defeated the tyrant; sealing him away in the frozen ice of the north" She sniffled "But they could not bring my child back, nor the others who lost their lives to the mad king" She continued with her little history lesson "As a last spiteful action, Sombra cursed the kingdom to disappear for a millennium so he could reemerge after gathering his strength to enslave us all again"

She laughed mirthlessly before continuing "The only comforting thought I have now is that he was finally vanquished once the crystal heart was returned to us. Sombra and his evil destroyed by the very love and light my son added to, poetic justice at its finest" She humorlessly said before looking me in the eyes.

"You remind me so much of him, always thinking considerately of others. You share his adventurous spirit. You even have the same eyes as him" She pensively spoke and kept her gaze. I returned the look before speaking.

"I'm not your son Crystal, but I promise you won't lose me the same way you lost him" I resolutely declared.

She shook her head and bore a melancholy smile "You're just as stubborn as he was when he was set on something" She sighed in a resigned fashion.

"I suppose I can't keep you from doing this can I?" I shook my head.

"I only ask that you do your utmost to be careful" She requested and I nodded to her in validation.

We both got up off of the floor and Crystal left for the bathroom to compose herself while I sifted through my backpack before grabbing one of those flashbangs I was so graciously provided with. Crystal was waiting for me by the door and gripped me in a tight hug before I left.

"Be safe" She barely spoke in a whisper.

"I'll be back before you know it" I spoke in a confident manner before she let go of me.

I walked forward a few paces before glancing behind, Crystal was leaning against the doorway; a sad but hopeful smile on her face. I waved to her which she returned before I took off into the sky heading eastward. I spotted the three militia men along with their gathered gear where we agreed to rendezvous and landed. They looked up at me and nodded in acknowledgement which I returned. Arrow decided to speak up.

"Bout time you showed up, we were startin' to think you reneged on us" He said impatiently.

"Yes well, my caretaker is all for emotional farewells" I said with a tired expression.

"We're losing daylight here!" Ardent Bastion bellowed "Let's get going, I want to make that beast pay for spilling the blood of my family's livestock" He said in a dark tone.

"You'll have to pardon Bastion's impassioned desire to hunt the beast, he shepherded his uncles livestock when the beast attacked" Silver Sword explained

"I trust the tiny ewes weren't slaughtered?" I asked and raised my brow to which Bastion shook his head and smirked.

"Those miniscule things are only good for petting zoos; they lack enough wool to make shearing them worthwhile. Though their diminutive stature is probably the reason why the Blizzard Beast never bothers with them; not enough meat I suppose"

We started making our way to the barrier boundary when Sliver asked me a question.

"Shouldn't you be wearing something warmer?" He quirked his brow.

"Don't see why, Valkyrians are more tolerant to cold climates. We can handle them the same as you'd handle a crisp morning breeze" I told him, to which he nodded in understanding. I decided to ask a question of my own.

"You mentioned collars that could be tracked earlier, how does that work?"

Bastion pulled out what looked like a compass before explaining.

"My Uncle had this compass enchanted so that if his livestock ever got lost for whatever reason, he would be able to track the nearest ones by following the direction the red needle pointed. So this will lead us to his collared sheep, or rather what's left of them" He nauseously remarked at the end.

"Convenient" I remarked to which he shook his head in agreement. I saw Silver's pause in place as if he forgotten something before speaking.

"I nearly forgot! We gave you our names but we never asked yours. Tell me, by what name does our scout go by?" They all looked at me expectantly

"Name's Zenith, pleased to formally make your acquaintance" I said with an exaggerated flourish.

They chuckled at my antics while Silver placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled confidently.

"Well then Zenith, how bout we go hunt ourselves a snow dragon?"

My eyes widened slightly as we stepped out of the climate barrier.


	5. Chapter 5: There's Snow Dragons here!

Chapter 5: There's Snow Dragons here!

Ambience Music (Two Steps From Hell- Winterspell)

Stepping out of the Krystal Kingdom's acclimatized boundaries was a lot like stepping into the refrigerated fresh produce section of your average local Costco, nippy but not terribly cold; albeit a good deal windier. Taking my mind off the vastly different temperature conditions, I turned my attention to Silver Sword.

"This Blizzard Beast is a Dragon?" I ruefully asked to which Silver nodded.

"How do we plan to kill it? Last time I checked dragons were kind of resilient to damage, what with them being covered in thick scales and all" I voiced my skepticism.

Ardent Bastion gruffly retorted, "Same thing you do to kill anything else. You keep going at it till it finally falls" He returned to checking his enchanted compass before changing our course slightly.

'_Not much of a game plan_' I acerbically thought, '_Although they did tell me that they were trained fighters, not trained tacticians_' I further mused.

I decided to question Silver once more, "This Blizzard Beast isn't one of those intelligent dragons right?"

He shook his head in response, "No, it's completely feral. If it ever was intelligent at one point, it has completely reverted to its baser nature"

Pierce; as I've decided to call him, intruded into our conversation. "If you ask me, we're doing this loathsome overgrown lizard a favor by killin' it. And if we get paid for doing so, all the better I say" He perniciously stated as he patted his recurve bow with a confidant smirk.

"Plus, we have you along for air support. I feel like our chances are decent now" He added in a genuinely honest tone.

'_This is coming from the guy who criticized my choice of weapon, ambivalent much?_'

"Your confidence in my aerial abilities is flattering" I couldn't quite keep the sarcasm out of my voice. He just smirked at me before snarking back.

"Well, at the very worst… you'll make great dragon bait" The other two chuckled as we trudged along in the snow.

It wasn't terribly scenic, the snow was up to our shins and visibility conditions were obscured by continuously falling snow bits. The only landmarks distinguishing the horizon were snowcapped mountains. The skies were rather dark and grey too. To be honest, it was as dreary as what I imagine Siberia would be like on a Tuesday.

'_Seems like I've gone from a crystal motif to a snowy one… wonderful_' I humorlessly thought. I felt the need to free my feet from the snow since it was starting to melt and saturate my sneakers with water. I turned to Silver Sword and spoke, "I'm going stretch my intangible wings" to which he nodded his consent, "Don't fly so far as to lose track of us" He warned me to which I assured him I wouldn't and took off. I ascended to about thirty meters above the ground before looking downward to see the three brown dots contrasting against the white snow that made up my present company. The flying conditions were a little rougher than back in the Kingdom, the turbulent winds gave me a difficult time hovering in the same spot above the three bounty hunters below me. But I took it in stride, I figured I needed more practice flying in less than ideal conditions if I was going to be worth my wings. Although I was starting to regret not bringing along some kind of flight goggles to keep the wind and ice out of my eyes, I made a mental note to correct that later.

Not terribly much happened over the next three or so hours, I kept to the skies and battled it out with tempestuous gusts of air while Ardent made small adjustments to our course. It was getting dark by the time Silver bade me back to the Earth with a wide wave of his arms. By then, ice laced winds on the ground had died down a bit and the blanket of snow beneath us was almost completely level. Silver took an appreciative glance at the surroundings before unslinging a very large bag he had been carrying onto the ground.

"We'll make camp here for the night before resuming the hunt for our quarry come the morn"

He stooped down and opened the bag, revealing its contents of a bundled up tent and camping supplies not limited to but including; sleeping bags, and oil lanterns, bituminous coal, strips of jerky and other consumables. I helped the others with setting up the circular four person sized tent and anchoring it to the frosted ground beneath the snow with those railroad like tent stakes. I noticed that the tent had a covered opening at the top, probably to let out smoke from the fire that would be placed in the middle of the tent. The fire itself was contained in a metallic vessel filled with the bituminous coal and filled the surrounding air in the tent with welcomed warmth. We set up our sleeping bags around the toasty flames and prepared to settle in for the night. Before we did so however, we spent some time polishing and maintaining our weapons; or at least the other three did since my Tantō was both pristine and immaculate. So I simply sat there and watched Silver buffing out his namesake sword, Pierce examining his arrows to making sure the tips were razor sharp, and Ardent honing the edges of his double bladed battle-axe against a whetstone. The three of them reminded me of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli from Lord of the Rings; and not just for their choice of weapons. Silver was a forward thinking and forbearing unofficial leader of the three; his voice even sounded a lot like Viggo Mortensen's. Pierce was the tenacious (and hopefully just as skilled) archer, even if he was more of a wise cracker. And Ardent was the headstrong no-nonsense axe wielding berserker. I silently chuckled to myself at the similarities, what did that make me? A Meriadoc Brandybuck with the dagger?

Silver decided to strike up a conversation while he and the other two tended to their blades.

"So tell us more about yourself Zenith" He said in a sincerely curious tone, "I wish to know more about our forward scout"

"I'll share if you do so first" I said, to which Silver sheathed his argent blade with a loud 'Shiink!' and replied with a smile.

"Very well, I've lived in the Krystal Kingdom my whole life; I fought alongside these two" He gestured to the others, "Against Sombra when he usurped control away from our people. Though despite our best efforts, we we're subdued by his dark magic and were held captive while he enslaved all of our friends and family" He paused momentarily as though the memory was still painfully fresh, before continuing. "Then after he was defeated and cast out by the victorious Princesses, our Kingdom was lost to the world for a millennium; a last spiteful act by a craven coward. We've only returned to the world for a few months now, and so much has changed in our absence. Still… we've adjusted fairly well in my opinion; we have even had our fair city chosen to host the next Arcanian Athletic Events!" He enthusiastically concluded. Pierce resolved to tell his story at this point.

"Yeah I served with these two in the defense of our homes" 'Much good it did us' He muttered to which he received a slug in the shoulder and a reprimanding glare from Ardent. Pierce rubbed his sore shoulder in an unapologetic manner before resuming "Anyway, once our Kingdom returned to the world and our collective amnesia was lifted by the actions of the bearers of Harmonious Virtues (_So that's what the element bearers are called here_) and Sombra was soundly defeated, I toured the lands south of the Kingdom and participated in a few archery tournaments here and there. Even won a majority of em" He grinned and looked upwards as he relieved what were probably cherished memories of accomplishment. I looked at Ardent in anticipation and he shook his head in response, causing his short bushy beard to sway. "Not much to say, I've never ventured out of the Kingdom beyond the mountains. And from what Piercy here has told me of the lands to the South, there's not much special enough to warrant my time. No, I'm content to merely stay with my Uncle's family and manage his livestock for him" He furrowed his brow and scowled. "A job that has been disrupted by this damned Blizzard Beast assaulting our Kingdom and wreaking havoc. I cannot wait to make my displeasure known to that cursed wyrm" He let out a dark chuckle as he narrowed the edge of his axe, which I noticed, had intricate lines engraved into the cheek of the blade. One half of the blade had lines that made me think of a pair of shears with a banana peel interposed within it, and I couldn't really think what the other half reminded me of.

"What's with the lines on your axe?" I enquired.

"Those are arcane runic patterns meant to augment my axe, makes killing things easier" He explained as he further tapered its edge.

I turned my attention to the other two who looked at me expectantly, I signed and thought about what I was going to say for a moment before speaking in a detached tone.

"Before I came to these lands I was what you'd consider a fairly average person, I studied in school for a bachelor's degree that I'd presumably use to earn my daily bread. From there I'd then enter a school of even higher knowledge to further myself; perhaps a school of medicine"

"Can you mend wounds?" Silver interjected.

"Uhm… no, I apologize if I won't be able to act as team medic" I stated apologetically.

"It's quite alright, we had some training in first aid in the militia" He said placating me.

"Boring course that was" Pierce said stodgily, before being shushed by Ardent who rolled his hand in a gesture that told me to continue my little story.

"Right where was I? I had a select few friends or 'good acquaintances' (I mentally chuckled) as I called them. And I lived where the weather was almost consistently near perfection and palm trees grew in abundance"

"What made you come to our humble slice of the world then?" Ardent asked me as he finished grinding his axe against the whetstone

"All this snow and ice is a far cry from the home you described, why indeed?" Pierce spoke incredulously, as if he couldn't imagine any soft folk used to dry conditions venturing anywhere where the water was locked in solid form.

I had a thoughtful look on my face as I pondered my unusual circumstances. Why was I brought to this strange variation of a show I enjoyed watching anyway? Who or what even brought me here to begin with? A mental image of Mister Bean saying magic and then snorting popped up and made me mentally roll my eyes.

'_That's probably the long and short of it I suppose. Way to go brain, helpful as always_' I looked back at the awaiting men before answering hesitantly.

"I'm tempted to say fate… but that would sound a bit cliché, let's just say unique and unforeseeable factors delivered me here" I concluded my ambiguously truthful backstory. Wanting to change the subject I spoke deliberately.

"Now that we've gotten formally introduced to each other, let us talk about tactics"

"Was my earlier battle plan not adequate enough for you?" Ardent asked in a somewhat offended tone.

"Not quite" I responded as I pulled out the stun grenade I carried earlier from my pocket.

"This" I tapped the casing with my index finger, "Is a little something from back home called a flashbang; specifically an M84 stun grenade" The three of them eyed it warily, obviously unfamiliar with such a device.

"It does exactly as it's named; upon detonation it creates a bright flash and a deafening bang which completely disorients anyone in its blast radius, which is about five feet. We can use this to stupefy our target, and since dragons tend to have sensitive sight and hearing it will be even more effective!" They had a skeptical look on their faces and Pierce gave voice to his doubts.

"How do we know it will work? It doesn't sit right with me relying on some fancy doohickey to incapacitate a fully grown snow dragon"

"It'll work" I assured them, "This 'fancy doohickey' will maximize the effectiveness of a surprise attack; make our bounty that much easier to claim"

Silver seemed to like my idea after giving it some thought and backed me.

"I concur, every advantage we can obtain will tip the odds ever more in our favor"

Ardent gave his opinion in the form of a noncommittal grunt.

"Whatever helps me to sink my axe in that damned lizard's skull" he shrugged.

Pierce still had a doubtful disposition but spoke no more of it since his comrades approved of my plan to blitz the dragon.

"We should turn in for the night and get some rest" Ardent stated as he stowed his axe away "We'll need all of our strength tomorrow. We're getting close to our quarry, I can feel it!" He boldly emphasized.

I sure wasn't going to complain, all that flying against those gale force like winds really took it out of me. With a yawn, I got comfy in my sleeping bag and was swiftly carried off to dreamland. The crackling of the nearby fire luring me to sleep.

I was awoken the next morning by Silver who lightly shook me awake. I blinked away the weariness and look around the tent, the other two sleeping bags were bereft of their inhabitants. Silver saw the question form in my eyes and anticipated my unasked question.

"Ardent and Pierce are already outside and getting ready to move out, we get to pack everything up"

"Goody" I groaned before sitting up and shaking off the sleep.

'_I was dreaming about a monkey punching kittens, issat supposed to mean something?_' I asked myself.

'You're secretly a sadistic and animal cruelty oriented person?' My morning brain snidely remarked at me.

'That or you just have a hard on for violence in general'

'_Okay brain that's enough outta you_'

'I WILL NOT BE SILEN-' *Powering down*

Internal dialogue aside, I proceeded to assist Silver in putting everything away. Rolling up the sleeping bags, snuffing out the fire, and unhitching the tent and packing it away. It was arduous and boring but I participated accordingly, I wanted to come off as a credit to this team after all. Once all that was finished, we resumed on our quest to slay the blizzard beast. It's a shame the journey itself wasn't as epic as it sounded, Ardent's enchanted tracking compass leading us closer to one of the snow topped mountains. '_The Dragon probably has a cave den up there, what is it with Dragons and caves?_' Deciding that now was a good time I took to the air, silently grateful that it wasn't as windy as yesterday. As we drew ever closer to the mountains, I noticed faint but rather noticeable streaks of crimson against the alabaster snow about a fifteen minute walk ahead of our position. I decided to check it out personally before reporting my findings back to the group. The first thing I noticed as I set down on the ground was that snow had been recently trudged through by something big. The tracks that were raked through the snow were spaced apart by at least five meters, indicating a beast of considerable size had recently passed by here. Small bits and pieces of wool scattered here and there were accompanied by the blood streaks I spotted earlier. The bloody trails led up the mountain a short distance before cutting off around a small bend. Satisfied with what I found I made my way back to my companions via the air. Landing just next to Silver I gave him the results of my scouting, reporting the bloody trail that would point us toward our serpentine objective.

"We are indeed drawing close to the Beast then, nicely done" Silver complimented me and motioned to the group's navigator.

"You can put away that compass Ardent, we've found our bounty" He directed to the man, who took out his axe and wore an anticipative look of vengeance against the beast that dared devour the sheep he was charged with protecting.

"This thing won't be able to detect us through scent right?" I asked.

Pierce answered me "In these frigid conditions? Unlikely, frozen food isn't exactly odiferous" He punctuated with a shiver.

"Nonetheless, we must approach with caution lest we give away ourselves prematurely" Silver forewarned us and turned to me.

"That device you told us about last night, what is its fuse time?" He asked.

"A couple seconds so once you pull it, you have to toss it immediately" I answered, pulling up my rudimentary knowledge of the M84.

"Then we will have to begin our assault almost at once. I and the others will handle this part; provide whatever assistance you think you can give" He told me as we approached the bend in the path. Turning the corner we came across the frosted mouth of a cave, with our blizzard beast presumably within its confines.

'_Called it_' I smirked to myself.

We heard a cacophony of growling and crunching noises coming from inside the cave, verifying that our bounty was indeed at home and unwittingly feeding upon livestock whose collars happened to be traceable. I felt my heart rate climb as we drew ever closer to our unsuspecting prey, '_Wow, does hunting always feel this exhilarating?_' I saw the others slowly draw their weapons and uncloak, Pierce had an outfit that reminded me of the elven light armor from Skyrim and was nocking his bow with razor sharp arrows, Ardent wasn't wearing any abdominal armor at all and was rolling the axe in his hands impatiently, and Silver wore a metal chest piece with segmented shoulder pauldrons and leggings and was holding the handle of his sword close to his side, having left the camping provisions bag aside. I subconsciously felt for the scabbard of my Tantō to make sure it was still there and felt relief when my hand brushed the smooth wood of its surface. I was beginning to feel vulnerable without any kind of armor before remembering that I was simply this group's scout and that I wasn't supposed to be heavily armored, only mobile. With a shallow breath, I followed my armed companions into the cave's entrance.

The cave was actually decently lit from the opening, along with large crevices that offered a spectacular view of the adjacent mountains. By this point we were close enough that I was able to see the large and slightly spiky profile of the lepidote lizard. It had a long neck that was covered in small spines and what looked like curved horns protruding out of the sides of its head. The beast itself was facing away from us and seemed to be gnawing at the remnants of what were probably the eviscerated remains of some poor sheep. The rancid stench of death hung in the air and I had to use most of my willpower not to gag loudly and give us away.

Witnessing some conveniently placed rocks flanking the beast, Silver directed us behind them. Pierce and Ardent took positions behind the beast's left and me and Silver behind its right. Silver gave me a look that told me to enact our surprise attack to which I nodded and pulled out my little contrivance. My fingers gripped its porous casing and curled around the pulling pins. I mentally went over what I had to do. '_Okay, so I just have to pull the circular and triangular pins in succession then retract the safety lever and toss it. I should get it as close to its face as I can to get the most out of this. No pressure…_'

I peeked around the corner to see the soon to be bushwhacked dragon still oblivious to our presence as it greedily munched down on its meal. '_Time to fix that_' I gave a shrill and terse whistle to grab its attention before I pulled the pins and handle on the grenade and tossed it, the beast briskly brought its hefty head around before looking down at the curious object I threw its way. I didn't get to see its reaction since I shut my eyes tightly and covered my ears with both hands, an action the others emulated all too eagerly. Even with my hands wrapped around my ears the ensuing detonation was loud as hell, but thankfully not dazing. The beast that got a face full of a million candelas and one hundred and seventy decibels was not so fortunate, it roared in pain as the onslaught of both light and noise struck its acute senses, rendering its vision blurred and its ears ringing; leaving it temporarily incapacitated. The other three took this opportunity to attack the beast as they bellowed a mighty battle cry. Silver and Ardent charged at the disoriented dragon while Pierce let loose a deluge of arrows upon it; he seemed to be aiming for its eyes but since the beast was shaking its head violently to clear its faculties, he only managed to land most of them in its main body and tail. Silver and Ardent started hacking and slashing as its limbs since the beast's head and neck were elevated too high off the ground for them to reach. Thanks to what must have been the enchantments on their weapons they were able to draw blood despite the beast's tough scaled body.

The Dragon must have finally realized what was happening and hissed in both anger and pain as it blindly swung its claws at the fast moving blurs attacking it. Even in its bewildered state, Ardent and Silver were only just dodging most of its swipes. I stood a safe distance away trying to flank around the beast while looking for an opening. We were managing a good ambush on the beast before it finally regained control of its senses and pressed its counterattack, knocking Silver against the wall of the cave with a tremendous swing of its tail and putting him out of the fight before turning its attention to Ardent, who defiantly kept slashing at any spot he could reach. It opened its maw, revealing its sharp and blood stained teeth and attempted to bite at him. He dodged swiftly around its chomping jaws and swung his axe at its face, sinking it deep into its cheek and causing it to yelp in agony. Pierce kept a relatively safe distance away and continued with his onslaught of arrows, turning the Blizzard Beast's side into a bloody collage of blood and light green scales. It bore a sickening resemblance to one of those modern abstract compositions that I once saw in an art museum. The pain detracted enough of the dragon's focus that it was only able to make a maladroit lash out at Pierce with its lumbering tail. Something he dodged by diving out of the way and coming out of the roll with an arrow nocked, which he let loose into the Dragon's exposed nether regions. The beast let loose the loudest roar yet which seemed to shake the very ground. '_Probably scored a critical hit in a sensitive region_' I humorously thought as I ducked and weaved closer to the Dragon's blind spot. Ardent resumed pressing his advantage against the weakening opponent and it in turn focused solely on him in a blind animalistic fury only a cornered creature fought with.

While this was happening, I saw my opportunity to end the fight. By making its head level with the ground while it ferociously fought Ardent with both tooth and nail, I saw that I could land on its back and make my way for the top of its skull. I did just that, I leaped onto its back with the aid of my wings and crawled my way to its cranium using the spines on it back as handholds. The beast must have noticed its unwanted passenger because it flailed and shook violently, almost throwing me off several times. '_So this is what Wander had to deal with when scaling the Colossi_' I bitterly thought as I hung onto the beast's spines for dear life. Eventually the beast had to return its attention to the bellicose man with the battle axe who was getting increasingly audacious in his attack.

The spines along its neck make for good handles and I reached ever closer to what I hoped was a weak spot. Thankfully Pierce wasn't aiming at its head anymore or I'd quickly become a human pincushion. I finally reached atop its head when the beast knocked away Ardent's axe with a swipe from it claws and caused him to fall with his back to the ground completely unarmed and vulnerable. It loomed over him and raised a jagged claw with the intention of goring him. Acting quickly I unsheathed my Tantō and drove it repeatedly into the base of its skull, the incredibly sharp blade puncturing through scale and bone as if it were thick pie crust before perforating its brain. The blood spattered beast yowled poignantly as it entered its death throes before finally collapsing and letting out a drawn out death gurgle as its life expended.

There was absolute silence afterwards, save for the howling of the winds outside which had picked up since then. I pulled out my blade and shook it free of blood and brain matter before hopping off of the now dead Blizzard Beast. I walked up to Ardent who was still on the ground with an astounded expression on his face and offered him a hand up, which he accepted after a few moments. I saw Pierce nearby with his jaw on the floor and I couldn't help but call him out on his earlier comment.

"How's that for a toothpick?" I said with a smarmy grin.

A bruised and battered Silver picked himself off of the floor and groaned in pain before hobbling over to us, a large dent in his once unblemished chest piece.

"Never knew you had it in you Zenith, very well done" He slapped a hand on my shoulder in approbation. I simply shrugged and answered.

"I saw an opening and I exploited it, but that wouldn't have been possible without you guys monopolizing its attention" I looked at them appreciatively.

Pierce finally got over his astonishment before turning his head away and wisecracking dismissively to me.

"You got lucky" to which he received a slap in the back of the head from Ardent.

"Give credit to where its due Pierce! Zenith here just secured our bounty and eliminated a menace to our kingdom" Ardent reprimanded the acrimonious archer.

"Speaking of which, how are we gonna bring back evidence? We can't exactly just drag that things corpulent corpse back to the kingdom" I raised my concerns to the group.

"We'll declaw the dead beast and saw off its horns" Silver stated, "Should be enough to appease the authorities" So we got to doing just that, using serrated bone saws that were kept in Silver's bag. They certainly planned ahead for all of this.

Thirty or so minutes of squicky amputation later, we were headed down the mountain and back to the kingdom with convincing evidence of our kill. Leaving behind a large corpse to slowly rot and decay in the wintery wasteland. The guys were in high spirits owing to their victory over the beast, each with a large and satisfied smile on their face and wearing garments soaked in the blood of their kill.

'_Wait until I tell Crystal about this_' I amusedly thought as we marched back to the kingdom, each man about to be a thousand bits richer and a good deal more renowned.


	6. Chapter 6: An Arbitrary Advent

Chapter 6: An Arbitrary Advent

So there we were, triumphantly making our way back to the Krystal Kingdom. Taking turns dragging back the proof of our kill in the form of two sawn off horns and an assortment of crimson stained claws; etching jagged lines in the ivory snow. We stopped about halfway back in order to rest and consume some of our tasty jerky and rehydrate ourselves before resuming our way homeward; I use that term loosely since I still felt a little out of place here. The other three spent most of the time facetiously bantering over who caused the most harm to the Dragon while I was preoccupied doing some introspection.

"I landed more blows than you my brawny friend" Silver said, as if stating a fact.

"Aye" Ardent agreed, "But those were mere flesh wounds! My axe tasted much more blood in comparison" He quipped proudly.

Pierce interjected with his own contributions during the fight.

"That dead beast felt the sting of my arrows where it hurt" He chuckled; probably at the memory of scoring a shot in its crotch, "Kept its attention diverted away from you two as well" He added, to which the other two scoffed.

"It wasn't distracting enough to keep it from plastering myself against the wall. I'm going to be feeling that for a week!" Silver said in a joking tone and rolled his shoulders, eliciting a crack and pop from them.

"Ha! Real men can take a hit and get back up for more!" Ardent stated loudly and clapped a hand on Silver's shoulder. "That's more than can be said of you Piercy, always keeping a comfortable distance from the action"

Pierce scowled in annoyance at the obscure insult to his masculinity.

"Even our unassuming scout here is more hands on than you! Who Zenith had a warrior's spirit in him?" Ardent bellowed with laughter and slapped me on the back, shaking me from my thoughts.

Silver took notice of my silence and voiced concern "Is something troubling Zenith? We've achieved success in our hunt and by your hand no less! Why do you not join us in our merriment?"

I shook my head tiredly and sighed, "It's nothing guys, just got a lot occupying my mind at the moment"

The main thought I ruminated on was how I felt after killing the Dragon, or more accurately what I **didn't** feel. I just ended the life of a living creature without as much as a second thought, sinking my knife into its skull as casually as I would a watermelon. Wasn't I supposed to feel **something**? Happy for ending its raids on the Krystal Kingdom? Sad for having to put it out of its misery? Yet I felt nothing at all, and that bothered me on a deeper level. Not wanting to draw any more undue attention to myself, I changed the subject back to the fight.

"You two oughta give Pierce a little more credit, some of his arrows made for great handholds while I was scaling the mighty beast!" I punctuated my statement by pretending to climb up something, getting some chuckles from Silver and Ardent and a grateful smile from Pierce.

The conviviality continued until we reached the climate boundary of the Krystal Kingdom, the light blue dome contrasting with the dull skies above. As we progressed inside, the guys sighed in relief in response to the warm air coming to greet them as we stepped in. Due to my inherent resilience to the natural elements I hardly noticed the difference; it was like standing in front of your refrigerator for a few minutes and then shutting it, you could disregard the dissimilarity in temperatures.

"So where do we haul our hard won proof of the kill?" I asked.

"To the domestic affairs office, that's where we can collect our reward" Silver informed me.

So we ambled our way there, drawing some confused and more than a few repulsed stares at our gory prizes in tow from the locals. Granted we weren't exactly spick and span ourselves, being covered with dried blood and sweat from both the fight and the ensuing saw work afterwards. While the other three seemed to revel in the attention they were receiving, it only served to remind me how horrified Crystal is going to be at the sight of me. I internally cringed at the thought of making my impromptu caretaker any more frightened for my well-being.

'_I just had to remind her of her lost son don't I?_'I sighed in exasperation. I did promise her that I would be careful and I meant it; I owe her at least that much for taking me in.

We eventually reached the domestic affairs office, a large crystalline building with a layout that reminded me of the post office near my home, '_Don't think about home you fool!_' Inside there were several stalls leading to either a clerk or other manner of government worker, each with an orderly line of people behind them waiting to voice whatever their concern was. We took our place in line for one of the clerks, the people in front of us shifting nervously back and forth or even just abandoning their spot in line at the sight of our bloodied and matted visage.

"Squeamish aren't they?" I remarked to myself, obtaining muted chortles of agreement from the guys as we advanced in place.

I personally have no issues with being in contact with blood and guts. I once spent summer vacation my junior year of high school doing a mini-med camp program in Philadelphia; five weeks of being exposed to procedures like colonoscopies, surgeries, and autopsies all before lunch time confirmed to me that I had a strong stomach for these kinds of things. If you can eat something with the thick smell of Formaldehyde clinging to your nostrils then you can tolerate just about anything. Perhaps that should have been the first sign that I would be jaded to my slaying of the Snow Dragon.

To his credit, the clerk at the window only raised an eyebrow at our sanguine haul once we reached him. He wore a maroon regency era coat and waistcoat that gave him a retroactive sense of class. His once light green hair turning a less vibrant shade of gray along with slight age wrinkles were probably clues that this old timer had seen his fair share of unorthodox sights.

"I assume you gentlemen are here to claim the bounty on the Blizzard Beast?" He said as he pointed the feathery end of his quill at us.

'_Pfft, quills, I'm going to have to do something about that someday_' I offhandedly thought.

"That's right, it wasn't an easy task but thanks to our friend here" Pierce wrapped an arm around me, "We managed to strike it down permanently!"

The clerk nodded his understanding, "I see, then I must congratulate you! You've done our kingdom a great service ridding us of that foul threat to our people"

He waved us closer to him, "Tell me your names that I may record who has achieved this great deed, you must be recognized for giving the Krystal people one less problem to fret over"

Pierce unsurprisingly, spoke first. "Piercing Arrow, second detachment of the Krystal Militia"

Ardent went next, "Ardent Bastion of the same unit, it was my pleasure smiting that scaly freak" He added with a sadistic smirk.

Silver spoke his piece, "Silver Sword, Sergeant at arms of the second detachment"

'_So he is their leader_' One of my suspicions confirmed, I announced myself to the aged clerk.

"Zenith, I'm…not part of their militia, but they recruited me to be their scout and air support"

The clerk stared at me with a perplexed look, "Air support?" I remembered that I had dispelled my wings on the journey back, feeling content to merely walk back.

"Oh right" I resummoned them, the now familiar sensation sitting on my shoulder blades once more.

The clerk then adopted an expression of remembrance upon seeing them, "Ah! We were told to be on the lookout for a Valkyrian with your name. The Princess of the Krystal Kingdom has requested an audience with you" He informed me in an official tone. The guys started murmuring to each other over the news of this.

My face did not show it, but I was not expecting this. '_I just got back from one situation only to find myself in another! Well… I knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later_' I decided to shake the tree a little to see if I could opt out.

"Is this the kind of request that I can politely turn down or the formal way one that basically tells me that I've been summoned?" Please be the first, please be the first.

The clerk must have thought my inquiry hilariously preposterous because he smirked in amusement before replying, "The latter, though if you want to deny our Royal Majesty's wishes then who am I to stop you?" He sat back and shrugged before making a conjecture, "Although I doubt her guards would take kindly to her Excellency being refused" He smugly stated, knowing I was going before the Princess no matter what.

'_Damn, this old man still has a bit of troll in him_' I begrudgingly acknowledged.

"Very well" I sighed in mock defeat, "I suppose I shall have to pay the Princess a visit then won't I?"

"A wise choice, though I recommend a bath and a change of clothes before making your appearance before the Krystal Vicereine of Arcania" The cantankerous clerk craned his neck to the side in aversion to my unkempt complexion.

"Thanks for the advice Jeeves, I'll keep that in mind before showing up in front of Royalty looking like I rolled around in a butcher's shop" I sarcastically retorted.

Surprise showed on the clerk's face, "How did you know my name was Jeeves?" He asked in confusion.

My response was to groan and slap a hand to my face, "Never mind that. Can we just collect the reward and go?"

He got over his astonishment at the mention of 'reward', "Of course, I presume you want it divided evenly? We all responded in the affirmative.

"Then I shall retrieve it for you" He got up from his counter and made his way into a backroom.

While we waited for his return, the guys decided to heckle me over my upcoming meeting with the Princess.

"Seems like the Princess has an eye for our monster slaying scout!" Pierce hassled me before crudely mimicking the Princess, swaying in a feminine fashion and overlapping his hands over his chest.

"Oh Zenith! How can I ever thank you for aiding my precious subjects?" His antiques drew laughter from the guys. Needless to say, I was not amused by his ridiculous act.

"You know? You do a disturbingly close imitation of an actual woman. It doesn't help that you have a rather petite figure for a man either" I deadpanned, the other two 'oohed' at my zinger and Pierce once again scowled at having his manhood insulted. The sound of someone clearing his throat interrupted our inane quibble.

"If this little cadre is done making a scene, I have your reward right here" Jeeves said with an impatient tone, tapping the counter overlaid with four large thick bags.

"Excellent, so do you want us to leave these here?" Ardent gestured with a thumb behind himself to the swan off horns and claws bundled together with twine.

"That…won't be necessary. You may keep them for yourselves, as trophies perhaps?" Jeeves said with slight disgust adorning his face.

Ardent looked as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning upon hearing those words; a very humorous and slightly off settling sight given how bloody he looked.

"I can't wait to hang these horns on my family's mantelpiece! I could also probably turn the claws into bone meal and sell that to offset the loss of my uncle's sheep" Ardent happily exclaimed his conciliation.

"What you do with them is your own business sir" Jeeves stated apathetically, "Now take your bits and go, you're holding up the line" He pointed behind us to a line of agitated and restless people glowering at us.

"It seems we've outstayed our welcome my fellows, let's take our money and leave" Silver said as he grabbed his share of the bounty. I followed suit and took the very large and hefty bag (sack was more accurate) of bits and followed my companions outside.

"It's a shame you have an appointment with Royalty, otherwise we'd enjoy having you among our company as we drink and be merry this night" Silver said apologetically.

"Aye, we'll buy an extra drink in your name!" Ardent added with enthusiasm.

"Thanks guys, I'm honored. Sorry I'll have to take a rain check on that celebration" I waved to them as we parted ways.

My first order of business was returning to Crystal's to reassure her that I was still alive and in good health before showering off the dried blood caked onto my skin. Which was still quite apparent as evidenced by the stupefied looks people were insistent on giving me. More than a few people believed me injured and tried dragging me to a hospital, which I respectfully resisted. I reached Crystal's home rather quickly thanks to its recognizable rounded shape relative to the surrounding homes; glad to be free from the undesired attention. I didn't even get to knock on the door before it flew open and I was nearly knocked down by a ferocious hug from my caretaker.

"Oh Zenith you had me so worried!" She pulled back to look at me and gasped at my unsightly semblance.

"By the Princesses you're hurt! Come, we must take you to the infirmary at once!" She tried pulling me along but I would not budge one inch.

"Crystal relax! It's not my blood, just the Blizzard Beast's. I'm fine really, just in serious need of a shower and fresh clothes" She looked unconvinced but yielded when I walked inside.

"I'll get to washing your soiled garments immediately!" She said expeditiously and started looking for her laundering materials.

'_This woman is going to run herself ragged over me_' I thought with a mild sense of presentiment.

"Crystal" I said with a strict tone, catching her attention. "Please don't burn the candle at both ends just for my sake; I'll wash my own clothes. You've done enough for me lately and undue stress won't do anybody any good. Just relax and take deep breaths, can you do that for me?" I beseeched her, to which she complied.

"Very well, I'll just make us some tea and leave you to it then" She sighed heavily before wrapping me in another hug.

"I'm so glad you're back, I feared the worst and I'm sorry for being overbearing" She apologized as she leaned her head against my chest.

"It's alright Crystal, I understand your fears. And I intend to keep the promise I made to you" She looked at me with watery eyes, searchingly.

"I know you will" And with that she left to make the tea.

I made my way upstairs to take care of my sullied personage, dropping off my newly acquired bits next to my other belongings before stripping off my sweaty and blood spattered clothes and tossing them in a hamper before retrieving a fresh set of boxers and black jeans and a grey t-shirt with a lucky brand spade in front. As I entered the bathroom carrying my clothes in hand, I briefly wondered why Crystal did not ask about the large sack I was carrying before realizing that she was too concerned over me to either notice or care.

'_She worries about me as much as my own mother_' I satirically thought, though it was comforting to know someone cared about me as though I was one of their own.

I was pleased to see that Crystal supplemented her toiletries with less feminine products for my own use, the soap and shampoo bore a scent reminiscent of Old Spice Komodo. I sighed in relief as I felt the results of earlier exertion simply wash away, the steam of the hot shower soothing my airways and bringing peace to my perpetual line of thoughts. Sadly it wasn't to last and I had to conclude my cleansing, but at least I smelled like the freshest of distant cultures. After drying myself off with a towel and dressing myself, I made my way downstairs to Crystal who was waiting for me at the table with a cup of tea in her hands and another across the table for me. I took my seat and drank of the tea, relishing in its strong cinnamon aftertaste.

"So how was your journey?" Crystal asked me.

"Eh… the usual, trudging through a vast terrain of snow, tracking a dangerous creature using a conveniently enchanted compass, camping for the night, discovering that creature's domain the next morning, ambushing said creature, striking it down, taking its horns and claws as evidence of its defeat, and cashing in its bounty" I summarized the details of my little adventure in a nonchalant fashion.

"You make it sound so simple" She said confoundedly.

"All in a day's work" I took a swig of my drink, secretly thrilled for using a cheesy one liner while drinking tea like a boss.

"How much did you make risking your life like that?" She said with a hint of irate vexation in her voice.

"About a thousand bits" I plainly stated.

She choked on her tea and sputtered, "A thousand!?"

"Yeah" I answered, "Why? Is that a lot?" I received a flabbergasted look as an answer.

"It's more than most people here make in six months!" She exclaimed.

"Oh" Was all I said before taking another sip and emptying my cup, "Well I intend to give half of it to you" I said setting it down on the table.

She stuttered for a response, "I..don't know what to say.. I mean"

'_Goodness, she's starting to remind me of a certain kind hearted animal caretaker, and speaking of kindness_' I thought to myself.

"Think of it as my way of formally thanking you for your kindness, and don't even think about not accepting because I won't take no for an answer on this" I spoke with complete sincerity.

She fidgeted in place a little longer before bowing her head and uttering a muted "Thank you" in response.

'_Yeah, I'm definitely getting that impression off of her_' I amusedly wondered.

"No problem, I feel as if it would serve a better purpose in your hands than mine. I'm told I tend to be somewhat tight fisted at times" I chuckled to myself.

"So I've been summoned to speak with the Princess" I said, changing the conversation to imminent matters and less impassioned ones.

"I was too. Shortly after you left, I was informed by one of her messengers and informed that Princ.. I mean Cadence" She corrected herself; probably by her majesty's wishes, "wanted to speak to me"

"And what was the topic of the conversation?" I asked, having an idea.

"It was about…well" She glanced at me, "you, she wanted to know more about you"

"And what did you say to her?" I asked with utmost curiosity… and a tad bit of concern.

"I told her that you were a wonderful person with a good heart, always acting considerately to others and myself" She smiled at me, which I did my best to return.

"Did you tell her anything else?" I had to know what I was going to have to explain and what I didn't.

"I told her that you were from a foreign land named America with the three branches of government you told me about, and all the incredible magic it possessed like laptops and airplanes" She said with a lingering modicum of awe in her voice.

"I've told you before Crystal, it isn't magic in the slightest, its technology" I reminded her.

"To someone like me, such marvelous things could be nothing short of magic" She reasoned, I let the issue drop since I knew I wouldn't convince her otherwise.

"You're half right I guess… what with Clarke's third law and all. Moving on, did anything else happen?"

"She wished to speak with you in person, but I told her you went off with your companions to find the Blizzard Beast earlier that day" She paused before asking me a question, "You said you wouldn't be involved in the fighting, yet you were covered in blood. Did you hold true to you word?"

Crap, time for half-truths. "I indirectly helped out by incapacitating it (_Permanently_) and sawing off its claws; it's a rather messy job as you could tell from earlier. I would be in a lot worst shape had I broken my word to you Crystal, that scaly thing was ferocious as hell."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either. '_Glad it ain't Applejack interrogating me_' I thought with relief. Thankfully it looked like she was convinced, hesitantly that is.

"I believe you Zenith, though I know there's something you're not telling me and I won't press you. Because I know you'll keep your promise" She said as she steepled her fingers on the table, visually reminding me of her insightful Mana Mark.

"Thank you for your understanding. How did her highness react to this news?" I turned the topic back to the Princess.

"She was worried for your safety of course! She said that if you made it back alive, she'd also have to congratulate you. Do you think she wants something of you?" She asked.

"Don't know. She probably just wants to see me in person and talk. What about eludes me though" I shrugged and picked myself off of the chair.

"I should probably get going then, don't want to keep her majesty waiting after all"

"Yes, it wouldn't be proper to delay any longer. Prin… Cadence must have other matters to attend to besides speaking with you"

She got up and hugged me once again, "Be on your best behavior okay Zenith?"

"I'll be a perfect little angel. Scout's honor" I held a hand up as if making a pledge.

And with that, I returned upstairs to retrieve some things; namely my Tantō and a sack of bits in case I needed it, as well as my iPod in case I ever got bored. Just because I was about to visit Royalty doesn't mean I was going in completely exposed. I tied my sack of bits from my cloud clearing job to my side belt loop and slid my knife through another on my backside, '_I need to get a legitimate holster for this sometime_' I walked out of Crystal's house and down the avenue, making a beeline for the Crystal Citadel.

It was about midday when I reached the front of the Castle, its spires shimmering in the sunlight. '_Walt Disney would be proud of this place. I still don't know how the Sun can shine down on the Kingdom when the outside is completely overcast, but I'll just chalk it up to some form of magic and leave it at that_' I took a moment to take in the vista, the 'front' of the Crystal Citadel had a balcony providing a near 180 degree overlook of the city below. The four 'legs' supporting the Citadel each had a stair cased entrance at their foundation, with a duo of guards posted at each. At the very base lay a spinning Crystal Heart floating between a long and thick crystal stalactite and a short and thin crystal stalagmite. This was setup on top of the snowflake emblem that represented the whole Kingdom.

A shimmering pulse every now and again sent a surge of colorful magical energy up through the citadel's peak and into the climate barrier which encircled the entire kingdom. In a way it kind of reminded me of a heartbeat sending life giving blood where it needed to go, but maybe I'm just waxing poetic.

After mentally flipping a coin for which entrance to choose, I picked one at random and approached the guards stationed there. Unsurprisingly they were clad in a light blue crystal themed armor with snowflakes adorning their shoulder plates and rather Romanesque style helmets that covered most of their facial features, not that they were terribly expressive to begin with. They stood stock-still holding spears at their sides and were looking ahead with a thousand yard stare; despite this I knew it was only a superficial presentation and that these guys were ready to spring at a moment's notice at the first sign of trouble. When I got closer, they crossed their spears together in a display that barred entry. I could certainly respect their dedication to the job, so long as they didn't go out of their way to superfluously impede me from meeting with their Princess. I stopped a respectable distance away and politely addressed them.

"Excuse me good sirs, but I do believe that I was summoned by her Royal Highness to speak with her" They didn't move, but their eyes shifted towards me in a mechanical motion that many would find unnerving.

"State your name so that we may confirm that claim" The one of the left said in a gruff voice that I could tell wasn't his real voice and was meant solely for intimidation purposes, needless to say I wasn't impressed.

"It's Zenith" I said in a tone that indicated as much, "I'm guessing you were told to be on the lookout for a Valkyrian with that name matching my description?"

They merely stared at me in response; it was chipping away at my patience.

"Look" I crossed my arms, "As much as I love staring contests, I don't exactly have all day. So if you're going to let me in, now is the time. Otherwise I'll simply leave, it's not like I wanted to go to this to begin with" I said impatiently and turned to leave, when I heard the scraping sound of metal signaling to me that the guards uncrossed their spears.

"You may enter, however I suggest leaving that testy attitude at the door" The one on the right said this time.

'_At least they didn't try to frisk me or anything; they must have supreme confidence in their protective abilities, or they have really poor eyesight with those helmets on_' I inquisitively pondered.

"Duly noted" I flippantly responded and walked past the narrowed eyed guards and up the steps and past the threshold of the doors. A spiral staircase leading up many flights was instantly there to greet me, '_Great_' I grumbled to myself and began to drag my lazy ass up them, a grueling two minutes later and I reached the first plateau.

It led out into a lovely looking hallway that stretched five doors down and into what I was guessing was the throne room. Before I could take my first step forward however, a young woman came up to greet me. She looked a few years older than me and had dark magenta hair with lighter shades as stripes and a blue fleur-de-lis as a Mana Mark on her hands, which were currently holding a clipboard. She was also wearing one of those business vests and a patterned skirt that matched the colors of her eyes, a rich shade of blue.

"Hello there, I'm Indigo Jade and I'm one of her majesty's Royal liaisons. Is there something I can assist you with?" She asked in a polite and formal tone.

"Yes, I was told that she requested an audience with me? I'm Zenith by the way" I introduced myself, giving a politeful nod.

She flipped her clipboard back a few pages, probably searching for a reference regarding myself as being summoned. A quick nod told me that she found what she was looking for and she smiled back up at me.

"Indeed you are! However, her highness is currently in the middle of a discussion with her head of security. Would you mind relaxing in one of the waiting chambers until she can see you?" She courteously asked with that same pretty smile.

"I've got patience to spare for a lovely lady like yourself" I shamelessly teased, getting a giggle and a slight blush in response from Jade.

"Excellent! Right this way sir" She motioned me into one of the side rooms in the hallway.

It was a very large and swanky looking waiting room; its ceiling was about thirty feet high and gave it a very spacious feeling, windows carved into the walls also allowed great views of everything going on below. Plush looking couches with crystal framework were lined along the edges of the room with wooden coffee tables vanward of them. I sat my keister down on one of them and resisted the urge to put my feet up on the table like it was an ottoman footrest. '_The things I do for propriety's sake_' I sighed in comfort as I sank into the seat.

"Before I inform her majesty of your arrival, is there anything I can get you? Perhaps a glass of wine or other refreshments?" Jade asked of me.

I shook my head, "I don't imbibe, but thanks for the charitable offer" I offered a grateful grin in return. '_I_ _don't even know what the drinking age is here_'

"A prudent man I see, I can respect that. I'll let her Majesty know you're here"

And with that she did a heel face and promptly left me alone with my thoughts. Jade mentioned that the Princess was talking to her head of security; I wonder what the reasons for that were? I shrugged to myself and leaned back into the couch further, humming in sedentary contentment as the leather cushion enveloped me in its comfort. I briefly considered pulling out my iPod and listening to some tunes but decided against it, I needed to keep my ears open and anyone seeing me with it would start asking irksome questions.

After about twenty or so minutes of waiting I was starting to get close to nodding off when I heard the door to the room open and someone step inside, the clacking sound of heels against the smooth floor echoing in the large room. I decided to feign being asleep just to see if it was someone else other than the Princess, that and I like to screw with people whenever I get the chance. Based on the sound of the approaching footsteps, I surmised that it was indeed a woman wearing low heeled shoes.

"Goodness, I must have kept him waiting longer than I thought" A youthful yet melodic voice spoke, without a doubt I recognized it as the Princess.

"Just shy of dreamland your highness" I opened my eyes to see the admittedly funny sight of Cadence yelping and jumping back in surprise.

Once she collected herself, she gave me a fake disapproving glare before breaking into soft giggles. I took that time to reluctantly remove myself from the incredibly soft couch and stand up before her. The Princess was an eye catching woman of prominent stature wearing a simple pink dress with light purple arm sleeves and golden royal regalia around her neck and atop her head; she also had an amethyst bindi on her forehead. She had lavender eyes and tri-colored hair consisting of blond, pink and purple which strangely reminded me of a mixed flavored gelato. On her hands was the Mana Mark of a crystal heart not unlike the one at the entrance. She must have had her wings dispelled because I didn't see any on her back.

"It's been a while since someone has managed to get a jump out of me, I'm Princess Cadence" She gave a brief curtsy to which I crooked my head forward in a slight inclination while keeping my eyes connected with her own. She seemed to notice this and voiced her thoughts.

"You know, it's very rare to meet one of my subjects who does not fully prostrate themselves in my presence" She looked somewhat pleased with this despite the impertinent implications.

"That's probably because I'm not actually one of your subjects your eminence. Where I come from, we show Royalty their proper respect but never complete obeisance" I explained, being the freedom loving American I am.

"Ah yes, I find it quite refreshing actually. No matter how often I tell my subjects to simply refer to me as Cadence, they always seem to revert back to full reverence the very next day. They venerate the Royal family in the absolute highest it seems, it makes friendship with them…difficult" She looked slightly disconsolate, as though the issue had been afflicting her for some time.

"I've noticed, in fact my caretaker Crystal Clear had to correct her designations mid-sentence when speaking of you. You won't have that kind of problem with me your Highness, or do you prefer Cadence?" I grinned at her, which she happily returned.

"The latter please, though I wouldn't call it a problem so much as I would an obstacle" She motioned with her hand for me to follow her, "Walk with me, this isn't a discussion I wish to have in a waiting chamber" I obliged and followed her out into the scintillating crystal hallway once again, we were most likely heading to the throne room based on the closing distance between us and said room.

I wasn't wrong; though the throne room wasn't all that impressive if you ask me. The throne itself consisted almost entirely of crystals with only the royal seat itself and the rug leading to it being composed of something otherwise. Crystal columns rose dozens of feet high and lined the walls of the circular chamber. While I was becoming surfeited with the constant crystal construction constituting clearly everything here, I did believe that the snowflake banners hanging from the ceiling just above the dark blue polyhedrons and smooth silk curtains draping the balustrades below those polyhedrons were a nice touch though.

While I was occupied with taking in the details of the royal chamber, Cadence walked up to her throne and sat down, resting her hands in her lap and giving me a blank unreadable expression.

Finally she spoke, "Before we begin our discourse, do you mind if I make certain of a few things?"

"Of course, that's why you summoned me here to begin with right?" I said in a compliant tone.

"Partially. Your cooperation is also appreciated, just give me a moment" She shut her eyes and the amethyst bindi on her forehead started to emit a faint glow. I didn't feel anything and nothing else seemed to change, at least from what I observed. When the gem on her forehead stopped glowing and she opened her eyes again, she retained her unreadable expression but something in her eyes betrayed barely hidden bemusement. She recovered fairly quickly though and looked at me once again and spoke. This time her tone peculiar, as if she came across a strange conundrum.

"You're a curious one indeed, certainly no changeling" The last aspect in that sentence caused me to scoff amusedly at the ludicrous idea.

"Changeling? It takes more than magic to replicate this sheer amount of sexy" I struck a pose with my hands on my hips, I totally meant it too.

Her poker face lasted all of three seconds before crumbling into mirthful laughter, a delightful sound coming from an equally delightful woman. The fact that I was still standing there in all seriousness only served to further her glee. '_I hope she's not laughing at me, I don't think my poor hubris could take it_' When she finally composed herself she gave me a winning smile.

"I can tell that you're going to make some woman very happy someday" She said knowingly.

"I'll take that as a compliment, so anything else you wish to clear up?" I asked, her last sentence putting me at unease for some reason.

"I wish to know more about yourself and your arrival to my kingdom, Crystal only told me what you told her. And I haven't been able to discern anything else other than that you tried to taste the flavor of clouds"

"Oh" I chuckled nervously and shuffled in place, "You saw that huh?" '_I knew I was being watched!_'

She giggled well naturedly, "I actually came upon that by chance when passing the throne room balcony" She pointed to it, before leaning in holding her hand up in a conspiratorial manner and speaking in hushed tones "And between you and me, I did the same the first time I interacted with clouds"

"And here I was thinking I was the only person who wondered what clouds tasted like" I chuckled to myself, a notion Cadence shared.

"Is what I tell you confidential?" I asked, to which she slowly nodded.

"Unless it concerns the personal safety of my subjects, then this strictly between us" I tilted my head in a way that indicated my understanding.

"Very well, as you know. I come from a land known as America, you've not heard of it yes?" She shook her head, "That's because its world's away" I clarified, getting an uncomprehending look from Cadence.

"What do you mean? I don't understand, are you not from the neighboring sovereignties?" She asked with a stupefied expression.

"I'm from a land that's as physically removed from this place as you are from your own reflection in a mirror" I explained. It dawned on me that I was an inter-dimensional foreigner explaining the theory of parallel worlds to a magical Princess of Love, the oddity of the situation was not lost on me.

I don't think she fully understood the significance of what I was telling her but she nodded and spoke.

"I take it you don't have your travel papers then?" She rhetorically asked.

"Sorry, I left my passport back in my home dimension" I shrugged apologetically.

She sighed and rubbed her temples, the immensity of this clearly beyond her sphere of influence.

"Well that simply won't do, if you're to be living in Arcania you'll need official ipseity. That means one of two things, you go through a long and arduous process riddled with paperwork to become a citizen, or you do me a personal favor and assist in the recovery of something which has been recently stolen and I'll waive the paperwork process with a Royal mandate"

'_I guess one of the benefits of being Royalty is elastic power over the bureaucracy_' I didn't even give the choice any thought.

"I'd rather face down the legions of hell… than put up with toilsome paperwork" I portentously stated. She chuckled at my histrionics.

"Hopefully you won't have to do anything so harrowing, but the stolen item in question is of severe importance"

"What makes it so important?" I enquired.

"It's the legendary Crystal Chalice of King Sombra" She said as if that would explain everything.

"Given that ninety-five percent of everything in this Kingdom is crystalline in nature, I'm going to need to know more than that" I articulated with a roll of my hands.

"The Crystal Chalice was carved out of a very rare and incredibly mysterious enchanted gemstone that could concentrate magical energies to unfathomable levels, when filled with the fabled waters of life it could make anyone who drank of it both immortal and very powerful. We believe that's how Sombra originally ascended to rule as King over the Krystal People"

"Knowing what they say about the corruptive allure of power, I'm guessing he ventured well beyond the point of no return afterwards" I postulated.

"You assume correctly, Sombra already had dark intentions in his heart when he sought the throne. But drinking of the chalice and absorbing all that power turned him into a complete monster, the days of King Sombra's rule truly were a blight upon this Kingdom's marvelous history. It took the combined might of both my dear aunties; the solar and lunar diarchs to banish him into the frozen ice of the arctic north. As you can imagine, if the chalice were to fall into the wrong hands it could prove detrimental" She ended on a grim note.

"Can you tell me about the circumstances regarding the pilfering of this 'Crystal Chalice'?" I channeled my inner Cole Phelps, minus the notepad and expert sketching skills.

"I just finished speaking to my head of security about that; whoever committed this crime is both prepared and ruthless in their pursuit of this artifact's magical properties, and not afraid to use violence to get what they want. The guards I had stationed at the vault repository beneath this Citadel; which stores valuable antiquities such as the Chalice were found earlier this morning badly beaten and bleeding heavily, their wounds could have been fatal if they weren't wearing their armor" She concluded morosely, the wellbeing of her personal entourage must have weighed heavily on her mind. I decided to continue my inquiry in order to draw her attention away from that sorrowing subject.

"Did they take anything else besides the Chalice?" I also needed to know more if I was to be fully aware of the situation inevitably drawing me into it.

"Yes, they also took Sombra's encrypted manuscripts referencing anything else about the Chalice. It would require an esoteric old codex that Sombra did not keep in this Kingdom to decipher those texts" The Princess explained.

"And you have the faintest idea who might have done this?" I rhetorically asked.

"No… we do not know; they hid any trace of their involvement. Sans my badly battered guards" She gloomily spoke.

"I have a hunch who it might be" A soft yet unmistakably familiar tomboyish new voice interjected.

I turned to behold this newcomer and spotted a tanned woman leaning against the doorway to the throne room. She had raspberry red eyes and was wearing a dark olivine pocketed vest strung with venturing gear and brown khaki pants with knee high laced boots. She had gray scaled hair and was wearing a distinguishable pith helmet, along with a self-confident smirk on her face and a bullwhip on her waist. The Mana Mark of a compass rose adorned her hands. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind but the most dominant of these was, '_Holy Shit! It's Daring Do!_'


	7. Chapter 7: Stairs, Traps and Trains

Chapter 7: Stairs, Traps and Trains

Of all the people I expected to randomly show up, Daring Do wasn't terribly high on the list. Of course, I should have seen it coming; all this talk about a powerful artifact being stolen by somebody who more than likely wanted it for their own nefarious purposes and an intrepid adventurer like Daring was bound to show up. Being the genre savvy meta-master I am, I could take a good guess as to where this was going.

"I'm sorry; I wasn't expecting anyone else at the citadel today. Who might you be?" Cadence politely asked, despite our visitor's impromptu interruption.

'_Cadence doesn't know who Daring Do is?_'

"You don't know who I am!?" Daring exclaimed as though she were insulted.

I decided to defuse the situation lest it become some kind of shouting match, something the Princess would win anyway; the Royal caps lock and all.

"I know who she is. She's Daring Do; famed explorer and purveyor of ancient and abstruse artifacts. I believe she has a book series detailing her adventures" I explained for her uninformed highness.

'_A fictional series inside of a fictional show, oh the irony of my situation_'

Before I could ruminate further on the similarities between the Daring series and the itchy and scratchy series story within a story, she spoke in a mollified tone.

"Good to know I still have fans even this far north. And feel free to add extraordinaire to all those titles" Daring somewhat pompously ended her statement as she left her spot by the chamber entrance and stood near me by the foot of the Crystal throne.

"However, I wouldn't call them adventures so much as complicated expeditions" She clarified, giving me a dismissive passing glance.

The Princess expressed her apologies, "Forgive my ignorance; I hardly have time for much reading at my leisure these days. Although I must ask as to the reasons of your presence here" She stated in a commanding tone.

'_Apologetic one moment and authoritative the next. Gotta hand it to her, this Princess does not frivolously prolong the pleasantries_' I thought with approbation, believing that having a firm hand in matters is best.

"Thought you might ask that, it's why I brought this" Daring reached into her left chest pocket and took out a palm sized medallion that she casually tossed to the Princess.

"I'm here on the authority of the Concordia Institute of Archaeology tracking a nemesis of mine who managed to reach that codex you mentioned earlier before I did. I figured with that information, this was the next place he would go. Lo and behold, he managed to nab the Chalice too" She concluded by gesturing with her hands in a sweeping motion.

"Just how much of our conversation did you eavesdrop in on?" I asked, feeling perturbed.

"Enough to know confirm my suspicions of my counterpart's next move" She sighed in minute exasperation while crossing her arms.

The Princess listened attentively while she examined the official seal she caught with her levitation. Seeing telekinesis for the first time was pretty cool, even if the object lifted was encompassed in an overly feminine pink aura. I felt a miniscule pang of jealously of not being able to emulate such a simple yet marvelous feat of magic. I shoved such thoughts to the back of my mind in order to hear what the Princess had to say in response to Daring's reasons for her appearance in her Kingdom.

"So you're the agent the C.I.A informed me would assist in this matter" Cadence said as she levitated the seal back to the grizzled explorer.

I did my best to stifle a chuckle at that, seeing the irony of this world's Indiana Jones working for the C.I.A; this land never ceases to find ways to amuse me.

"Zenith" I snapped out of my little mental soiree just as the Princess directed her focus on me, "Since you so graciously decided to aid in returning the lost Chalice, you will be working alongside Miss Daring Do. Listen to what she says and keep each other safe" She instructed.

"Woah woah woah!" Daring exclaimed, "With respect, I work best alone your highness. He'll just slow me down" She pointed a thumb in my direction like I was dead weight.

I expressed my disdain automatically, "What am I? Chopped Liver? I just got back from slaying a freakin' snow dragon! I am not some otaku who's been sheltered from danger his entire life!

"Otaku?" They both asked in confusion at my outburst, befuddled by the foreign word.

"It's derogatory slang for a homebody" I seethed through gritted teeth. '_I am SO much more proactive than that!_'

"I've been meaning to thank you for that, you managed to lessen my burden and excise a threat to my kingdom and for that I am most grateful" Cadence spoke in a reconciliatory tone whilst holding a hand to her rather fulsome chest. '_Whoa there champ! Not safe for work!_'

The Princess then shifted back to Daring, "I understand that you prefer doing most of your work solo Miss Do…"

"Call me Daring, Miss Do is too formal for my blood" Daring interrupted brusquely, to which Cadence nodded and continued.

"…Very well Daring. But Zenith here has agreed to help retrieve the stolen chalice as a personal favor to me; I therefore believe his chances are best with you. Furthermore, as a Valkyrian I assure you he can keep up the pace" The Princess keenly pointed out.

At that Daring adopted a relatively sheepish look on her face, "He might actually be faster than that your highness. You see… I might have taken a crossbolt to my right shoulder blade on my last journey; the Marabian Sultan doesn't care for intruders in his private library" She gave us a knowingly false simper while she rubbed at her shoulder; wincing as she hit a tender spot, "So my own wings will be out of commission for a while until that fully heals"

I had read about that, turns out that a Valkyrian's innate connection to their wings can be physically disrupted by severe injury. Particularly the parts of the body where the wings themselves are projected, such as the shoulder blades. As such, a Valkyrian's shoulders are rather sensitive to the touch; I knew mine were.

"So I might be able to offset that significant disadvantage. Not so useless now am I?" I gave Daring my best impression of that one iconic SpongeBob face.

"I didn't know you were Skyborn!" Daring said defensively, "What self-respecting Valkyrian keeps his perfectly good wings dispelled anyway?" She asked with some frustration evident in her voice.

Another thing about the Valkyrian people is that they tend to be very proud of displaying their wings. So social wise, a Valkyrian keeping their wings hidden is often seen as being ashamed of their gift by other Valkyrians. A bit of foolish pride I know, perhaps it's one of the reasons the Skyborn clan historically had such good ties with the Griffin Kingdom overseas. I liked my wings just fine, but I had my reasons for keeping them concealed. I decided to make them known to the hotheaded trailblazer.

"I keep my wings dispelled because I don't like the attention they attract in an almost entirely agrarian kingdom; it makes me feel like some kind of novelty" '_That and I prefer anonymity_' I thought on the side.

"I understand that sentiment completely" The Princess added her two cents (or is it bits?) "I also feel as if my wings distance me from my subjects. I want to be seen as one of them and not just as their ruler. If that means keeping myself visually indistinct from them, then so be it"

"I guess I can understand that when you put it that way, but I don't mind the limelight myself" Daring sighed and folded her arms once more, "Fine, you can tag along. Just don't expect me to pull your ass out of the fire if this thing goes to hell in a hand basket, which it usually does" She grumbled the last two parts.

'_That makes one of us I guess_' I mentally groaned, '_When did life get so contentious?_'

"Then it's settled! I suggest conducting your search in the vault where the chalice was stolen" The Princess rose and descended the steps from her throne.

"Mind showing us the way?" I asked, receiving a cheeky grin from Cadence.

"You're standing on it" I merely raised my brow in curiosity.

"Stand aside please"

We complied and side strafed a few steps while Cadence stood facing the foot of the throne and concentrated. As she did so, I saw purple ghost like wisps protrude from her eyes and the light around her face darken considerably. She elevated a finger and pointed it at the main crystal jutting out of the stalagmite constituting the base of the throne chair. A surge of bona fide dark magic sprang forth from her index, zapping the crystal and turning it from lavender purple into a shady black. A shadow then proceeded to cast itself over the floor in front of the throne, revealing a hidden staircase which spiraled into the depths beneath the citadel. '_Oh yeah, I forgot about that_'

Once Cadence had finished casting the spell, she wobbled to a degree and put a hand to her forehead. As if casting the spell gave her a headache, which I didn't doubt.

"Ugh, I abhor having to use that dreadful spell. But alas, it's the only way to gain direct entry to the lower levels of Sombra's underground keep" She lamented.

"Why not change it?" Daring questioned.

"It only costs one momentary migraine as a toll. I've contemplated having the Concordian gateway mages look into solutions for fixing the arcane mechanism tethered to the throne's cornerstone, but I seldom have need for anyone besides some of my guards to be stationed there. And the Concordian gateway mages are surprisingly encumbered with demand for their delicate and precise work"

The Princess must have become aware of my analyzing stare, "Is something wrong Zenith?"

"Should I be concerned that even the fabled Princess of Love has the darkness in her heart necessary to cast such a spell?"

The look she gave me was one of slight melancholy, "Everyone has a little darkness in them Zenith, even us Princesses" She then took on a resolute tone, "But it's the resistance of that darkness on a daily basis that helps us grow as people and shows that we have the strength of character and moral integrity to do what's right"

"There's beauty in the broken" I whispered to myself. My respect for Cadence increased tenfold.

"Thanks for imparting that sappy piece of wisdom on us, but I'd like to get down there already. Don't stray behind new guy" Without further adieu, Daring began trekking down the spiraling stairs. I was about to follow her when the Princess stopped me with a raised hand.

"One last thing Zenith, in case any of my guards impede you the clearance words are falling stars. And beware any questionable doorways you might encounter down in the depths, most are insidious trapdoors commissioned by Sombra to ensnare intruders and force them to face their worst fears" She ominously concluded her monologue.

I nodded to her, "Trapdoors, got it. Will we be the only ones looking for your lost chalice?"

"I'm afraid I can't spare you any aid if that's what you're asking. With the Arcanian Athletic events coming up, most of my personnel are tied up with providing supervision over the preparations. My beloved husband Shining Armor is training the Crystal Kingdom's athletic team himself. I apologize, but the most I can do is forewarn you of the dangers you might face" She articulated pensively.

"That's quite alright, danger only makes things more fun" I gave her a roguish grin and spun around before she could formulate a response to my cocky remark.

I approached the edge of the stairs and peered down the chasm, spotting Daring rapidly increasing the distance between us. The column of space surrounded by the steps looked wide enough for me to drop down and avoid having to play catch up with the audacious adventurer. '_A bit gutsy, but quick_' Summoning my wings, I promptly pencil dived into the breach; falling a few good floors before using my wings to slow my swift descent. I was silently grateful that my wings were intangible as they brushed through the stony steps on my way down, causing a buzzing feeling to permeate my shoulders. I landed on a set of steps several meters below Daring, so I waited patiently for her leaning on the edge of the wall looking smug. When she finally came round, I couldn't help but call her out on her earlier comment.

"What was it you said before? Something about me slowing you down?" I said in my best troll worthy voice. She just scowled in annoyance.

"Shaddup, I already admitted that you could keep up" She brushed past me impatiently.

"Fair enough" I shrugged and shimmied down after her. '_You jelly slowpoke?_'

I was curious about her previous journey comment, "You mentioned getting nailed in the back by a crossbolt after trespassing in some Sultan's private library, mind elaborating on that?"

"What about it?" She snapped irritably, if she was going to be testy then I could snark right back.

"What you were doing there to begin with would be a nice place to start"

She huffed in aggravation before giving in, "Fine, remember the codex earlier that my nemesis got to before I did? Ages ago, the wicked King Sombra had it sent away on a caravan heading to sandier regions where he thought no one else could discover the secret to his power and threaten his rule. After exchanging many hands throughout time, the Sultan of the Marabian province managed to acquire it himself and had it stashed in his private collection. I was going to 'retrieve' it for the institute but my nemesis tipped the Sultan off and guards burst in before I could get my hands on it. He used the commotion to nab it for himself and I got an arrow in the back for my trouble" She ended bitterly.

"Tough break, at least you didn't take it to the knee; otherwise your adventuring days would be over" I just couldn't resist; she left me an opening for that shameless reference.

She stopped suddenly and whipped around with a disbelieving face and a flat, "What?"

"Inside joke, you wouldn't get it" I elaborated.

She gave me a venomous look in response, "You think what happened to me was funny? A codex of dangerous secrets that leads to an unimaginable source of power that can give its benefactor immortal life in the hands of an already powerful megalomaniacal bastard is a joke to you?" She was glaring daggers at me by that point.

I held my hands up in a placating manner, "I meant no offense! Can you blame a guy for trying to lighten the mood?"

I could have sworn that she growled in agitation before rolling her eyes and continuing downwards, a rather awkward silence ensuing shortly thereafter. Not wanting to provoke Daring any further, I kept to myself for the rest of our flight down the constant stairs.

'_Geez, Daring is grouchier than I thought she'd be_' I internally groused.

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs (finally!) we happened across a set of three visually indiscernible wooden doors with circular iron ring latches. I would've started fretting over which was a trapdoor, if not for the duo of guards standing statically at the first and foremost door demanding my immediate attention. Once they spotted us, they tensed visibly before the one on the left announced in the usual authoritative tone I've come to expect from them.

"Halt! State your purpose and clearance or be persecuted!"

"Clearance? What clearance? Don't you know who I am?" Daring stated with disgruntlement, a dismayed scowl plastered on her face, "I'm Daring Do! Famous Archeologist and adventurer the world over! I've catalogued hundreds of unknown historical and magical pieces from long since passed civilizations, not to mention flora and fauna, architecture, even exotic liquors! I even have my own book series! I've got more swag in my left middle finger than you have in your whole bodies!" She finished with gratuitous amounts of pride and gave them the one finger salute.

'_Not the greatest verbal tirade I've ever heard, but pretty good_' I thought, recalling the infamous lemon rant by Cave Johnson.

The guards for their part looked unimpressed and even slightly miffed at Daring's defiant gesture. Bristling in anger and aggression, the guard spoke again.

"I wouldn't care if you were the Sun Monarch herself, no one passes by us without clearance. Now speak the words or prepare to face the wrath of the Royal Guard!"

As he ended that sentence, they both lowered themselves and their spears antagonistically towards us. Daring looked like she was about to say something else perilously arrogant but I cut her off before she could do any more damage.

"Cease and desist! It's Falling Stars, that good enough for you?" I said in my most conciliatory voice.

The guards immediately relaxed their postures and raised their spears back into a standing position. Though they still kept their piercing gaze trained on us both.

"Hey, how'd you know the passwords?" Daring asked in a peeved tone. I gave her a deadpan look in return.

"The Princess told me, maybe if you were a little less foolhardy and a little more patient instead of just rushing headlong into things you'd have heard it too" I chided the headstrong woman.

She just adopted that usual scowl and muttered something very impolite under her breath. Focusing on the task at hand, I concentrated back on the guards who were still eyeing us warily.

"So… we're here about a stolen powerful and enigmatic artifact? My 'partner' here works for the C.I.A" I still had to stifle a guffaw at that, "And Princess Cadence has me assisting her in its return, so if you nice gentlemen could point us to the repository where the glorified antique was taken, that'd be great" I gave my tone a mix of sarcasm and sincerity, I have to say that I pulled it off pretty well too.

They stepped aside and the one on the right opened the door up for us, "Through here, and don't touch anything!" He irately amended.

"Many thanks, you gents have a nice day" I tipped my imaginary yet no less awesome hat to them and proceeded past the threshold.

What greeted my eyes was quite the sight, glistening gold, gems and other shinies' everywhere. Countless remnants and heirlooms from a Kingdom a thousand years removed from the timeline were piled somewhat haphazardly atop one another in a way more reminiscent of a treasury than a historical repository. I heard a rather girly squeak of excitement behind me as Daring just about flew past me to examine everything she could get her hands on. I expected the guards to admonish us severely any second, but apparently they decided to stick to their jobs of being door decorations.

"You must get quite the lady boner off history huh?" I dryly remarked at Daring's borderline nerdish antics.

Either Daring hadn't heard me or was ignoring me, too busy geeking out over some garish looking platinum crown to give little ol' me any love. Instead she was pretty much talking to herself about how incredible some of the pieces were and how she was waiting for a chance to see Krystal Era jewelry forever.

"I can't believe I'm actually holding the late Princess Platinum's crown! This relic has so many stories told about it! Wearing it to the diplomatic summit of the three clans was supposed to be a showcase of the Stellar Magi's amassed wealth to cow the other clans into submission, only it caused the other two clan's leaders to become angered at the Princess's haughty attitude and further alienated the clans to each other. So much Arcanian history and I'm holding it in the palms of my hands! I wonder if they kept her cape in here too…"

'_I thought that crown sorta looked familiar_' I mentally shrugged at my oversight.

Shaking myself from my ruminations I decided to let Daring lose herself in her own monologue and have a look around myself. Beyond the priceless bits of local history stored here, the rest of the room wasn't all that attention grabbing or worth describing, the walls and floor were the same ugly coal black as the stairwell coming down. There was however a portion of the room where things were overturned and what looked like the visual remnants of a scuffle that took place. I advanced towards it cautiously, staying mentally alert to any important details that might present themselves. All the while channeling my inner crime scene detective; Phelps or Sherlock, take your pick.

'_Okay, so disregarding the bloodstains since I don't have any access to DNA analyzing equipment and these people are probably behind in that particular field of criminal science; this seems to be a blunt smash and grab job. Things have been tossed aside, whether from the preliminary struggle or subsequent search is irrelevant. The Chalice must have been held in this shattered cast iron lockbox with the goblet sized indention in the black satin material… and what's this?_'

Noticing a mottled and obviously old piece of parchment lying on the floor next to the broken lockbox, I stooped down to pick it up. It looked like it was hastily torn from a book; I hypothesized and quickly ascertained that it was from the stolen codex. '_Well that was simple; whoever did this must have dropped it in a hurry_'

On its worn surface was this cryptic passage:

If eternal life is what you seek; then prove your mettle to be more than meek

If your fears you cannot greet; then death you shall never cheat

Pass through the darkened doors to enlightenment; or else abandon your dreams of eternal entitlement

Those with pure intentions will succeed; those with greed should pay heed

This task can make the strongest break; the one from beyond, the very earth shake

'_I'm not sure I like where this is going…_' I gloomily thought, foreseeing the implications.

"Whatcha got there?" Daring suddenly appeared and snatched the foreboding paper out of my hands.

"Hmm… looks like we gotta pass through some subliminal doorways to reach where we have to be next" Daring deftly deduced.

"Thanks Co-Captain obvious" I snidely remarked, totally impressed with her ability to draw simple conclusions after I had already done so.

"You're welcome! C'mon, let's get a move on" Daring completely subverted my sarcasm by acting cavalier. It's possible that she's already getting used to my mannerisms.

"Do you actually know what it is we're looking for?" I doubtfully asked as we walked to the exit leading back to the stairway vestibule.

"Besides the Chalice and the jackhole who stole it? I don't know, some kinda doorway?" She guessed with a shrug.

"Not just any doorway, Sombra's mental trapdoors. The kind the Princess informed me forces people to face their worst fears, another tidbit of information you missed with your disregarding gung ho nature" I exasperatedly corrected.

"Guess that's why I have you. You can copy down the trivial details for me while I kick ass and look damn good doing it" She immodestly boasted.

'_She's starting to remind me of a certain rainbow haired girl every minute I'm stuck with her. I wonder if they're distantly related?_' I inquisitively pondered.

"Wow… was that an almost compliment I heard?" I playfully bantered.

"Almost? I'm most definitely the best at being good and looking good!" She shot back with no small amount of pride.

"Don't forget the best at being modest" I added with an alleviated sigh, this exchange did a little bit to take my mind away from the upcoming event I knew I was going to despise.

We soon were back in the rotunda and curiously, the guards from before were no longer there. I just brushed it off as the time interval between the changing of the guard. '_Less nagging either way, I like to lollygag_' I mentally chuckled at my repeated Skyrim references. There were still two doors we still haven't opened as of yet, and I was debating internally which could be the one that would lead us to where we had to go next. As I made note of before, the doors were visually indistinguishable from each other.

"You know what? Screw it… let's just each try a door and see where it leads. If it's the one we want, great. If it ain't… then no harm no foul right?" Somehow I knew I was going to regret saying that.

"Sounds good to me. Whenever I work with mystery doors I just pick whatever till' I find the right one" She replied with a noncommittal shrug. '_Wow… a true professional_'

She then proceeded to select the one on the left facing the repository door. Leaving me with the one on the right, my mind was already working overtime trying to process just what lay on the other side. Things from the downright sinister to the unexpectedly mundane raged through my mind like a pack of angry ferrets. '_You know what? I'm stressing this WAY too much, just open the damn door_'

And so I did, I could not decide if what met my vision was a disappointment or something to lure me into a false sense of security. It was pitch black nothingness… kind of eerie in a way. But I hate jump scares more than Markiplier loves reviewing them, so it was a welcome relief to me. I walked a few paces forward before I heard the door slam shut behind me and the light pouring in from the rotunda's torches go out. '_Yep, should have seen that coming_' Digging into my pocket I fished out my IPod, intent on using the fluorescence from the screen to light my way. Before I could turn it on though, I heard a brisk scuttling sound seemingly come from all directions around me. Muttering a brusque invective to myself, I hastily switched it on and held it in front of myself. Needless to say I wasn't at all happy with what awaited me.

Eyes… clusters and clusters of them reflected my image with their black soulless gleam. But that wasn't the worst part no; the worst part was that those eyes were attached to FRIGGIN GINORMOUS SPIDERS! Did I mention that I was slightly arachnophobic? Well actually I'm terrified of them, especially the freakishly huge ones! To that day I have never done quite the impression of the goofy holler as I did then. I took off faster than greased lightning in the opposite direction, praying that the door would still be there. Turns out it wasn't, I was going to face this fear whether I wanted to or not. So I kept running like all hell was chasing me; which was not far from the truth to me. All the while a string of rather creative curses were flowing through my mind, '…_Sweet jumping Jesus on a pogo stick! Holy crap on a cracker! Cockalorum snollygoster lickspittle!_…' You get the point.

I didn't know where I was running to, but anywhere was better than sticking around with those spindly leg sacks of pure evil! Unfortunately there appeared to be a boundary to this horrific happenstance and I was backed into a corner. I held my IPod in a death grip, the flashlight app casting the cursed eight legged freaks in a looming light. My undesired company slowly and menacingly closing in, their fangs clicking and dripping with venom as they shifted them hungrily. Even more were rappelling in from above, shimmying down from their nasty web globules. '_Oh what I wouldn't give to have a giant can of Raid right now!_' Oddly enough, a bottle of what appeared to be insecticide literally poofed into existence and fell into my open hand. I quickly glanced at the label, which read: Nuclear Strength Arachnid Annihilator, now with fresh floral scent!

Shrugging off my suspension of disbelief, I shook the can and took aim. Squeezing the nozzle trigger with all I had, a cloud of absolutely vicious looking gas tore into the ranks of the eight legged horde. Causing them to shriek in what I hoped was sheer agony and doing what I could only describe as Riverdance without the shoes before dissolving into gross looking puddles of goop on the floor. As the can of gaseous death emptied itself, it dematerialized in a vaguely Tron like fashion. I took a deep breath through my nostrils, mollified that this particular tribulation was over. '_Ahhh… I love the smell of jasmine in the morning, it smells like victory_' I thought in my best Kilgore voice. Hearing the creaking sound of a door opening, I peered behind me to spot an entryway that wasn't there previously. Mentally high fiving myself, I scooted myself through the near blinding light only for it to disperse and reveal…

Another door….I won't mention what I hollered at the top of my lungs but I'll give you a clue, it rhymes with a drawn out duck. After about ten seconds of complete RAGE, I had cooled down enough to tempestuously see what horrors lay behind door number two as I gently pulled at the latch. A large meadow of grass and flowers awaited me this time; I nervously walked inside and… of course the door immediately shut and disappeared behind me. '_What's going to go wrong this time?_' I exhaustively bemoaned. Taking in my new surroundings I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by a strong sense of nostalgia. '_I've… seen this place before_'

Bulbous looking trees just shy of fully shrouding from view a castle made of white stones and red brick tiles. A stained glass mural depicting a familiar Princess positively glimmering in the sunlight adorned the forefront of the castle. Feeling a little more confident in such a comforting setting, I cautiously drew closer. Hearing the joyous racket of laughter as I approached…and came across a duo whom I instantly recognized. It was that plumber man Mario and his number one damsel Peach having a picnic! I was about to get their attention by politely greeting them when I abruptly stopped myself. Giving the situation some serious thought, '_No matter what I say I'm probably just going to end up sticking my foot in my mouth and setting off the horror fantasy, so why not enjoy it a little? It's not like a chance like this will ever present itself again. Let's get Ornery!_' I grinned maniacally and rubbed my palms together as I prepared to give the two the roasting of a lifetime.

'_Systems check, all systems go. Running wisecrack diagnostics… wisecracking computation module online. Smart ass mode engaged_'

"Hey you! With the overdone dirty sanchez on your lip!" That got his attention.

"How is that your bimbo of a girlfriend puts up with you? I hear that she secretly thinks that your fun times together are like holding down the B button the whole way! Then again, I can't really blame you. If I was high on mushrooms every day of the week and wearing that creepy ass furry costume, I'd be pretty unfocused myself!"

"And you!" I concentrated my burning ire on a bewildered Peach, "What is with you and getting constantly kidnapped by that pathetic excuse of an overgrown turtle? Do you get off on Stockholm syndrome or something? He's like a single father of eight! Don't you know he only wants you for your ludicrous amounts of money? Sounds like a gold digger to me! Don't even get me started on the blonde jokes specifically about you! And where was that cake I was promised in the nineties? You made my childhood an absolute lie you lying, manipulative, bombshell of a floozy skank!"

I finished my rant and was heaving and puffing like an overweight man on a step mill with a juicy steak held in front of him on a candy string. '_Cripes that's such good stress therapy!_ _I really needed to let out all that pressure I've accumulated lately_'

"Well…" Began the demure voice of Peach, "We didn't bring any cake with us, so how about we bake you one?"

"Oh boy what flavor!?" I giddily stated.

"B̩̹ͬ̄ļ̰͉̖̗̭̰̻̫͉̍óͦ͏͏҉̭͔͇o͇͖̞̩̦̤̺̱̘̿͗̈́͛̚͢͝d͍̮̈̍͡ ̵̡͎̗ͫ̐ͭ̒͜F͖͕̩̩͉̟̳̋̊́͞ͅl̛̼͚̫̦̘̳̊̈̑͂́̓͊ͪ͆͠a̜̘͉͎̼̠͚̓̒͋ͣͣ̋̌̕͜v̱͕͈̺̆̆ͨ͊̊͑ͥo̘̜͔͊̑̑r̨͍̰̘͇̾͐͐ͨ͜è̪̦̯̥͔͔̄ͫͣ̈̔͋̿́ͅd̺̼̖̻͍ͪ̅́̓!̧͚̼̟ͦ̓̈́́ͭ̔̐̒" She screeched.

Peaches voice pitch became demonic as her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks and took on a crimson shade with her eyes turning jet black. Her teeth became tiny and razor sharp like that of a piranha. The same thing happened to Mario who suddenly held a knife in his hands as he and Peach sauntered closer to me. They looked utterly wicked, and not in the cool way either.

"L͍̣̙̬̫̖ͭͯ̓̑͋ͭeͥ̅ͩ̏̋ͥ҉̝̜̣̕ẗ̢̧̡̪ͫ͗̓̽̌̎'̻̞̖͚ͯͮ̉ͥͭ̽͐̑͐́͡š̪̘͂ͧ̾͟ȁ͗͐ͬ̉͑҉̪̥̩͖͜ ̼̬̪̹̯͓̮̬ͬ̌ͅg͇̺̭ͫ̃̐ͨ͌ȅ͎̤̤̺͚̹͎ͤ͋ͨ̿͋ͩ̚t͕̙͚̽̌ͤͩͣ̑̚͘ ̸̨̮̈́͆̃͑ͥ̓̽̐b̘͓̮̜͇̦ͪͫͩ̕͝a̵̡̱͔̦̲̬̝͇̣ͥ̾̽̿̀k̩̺̰̮͚͌́ͬ͌̏̒̔ͨ̏̀ȉ̷̳̬̘̖͖͔ͬ̔̑̋̏ͥ́ͫn̳̯͆̐͢͞ĝ̡̢͔̜̤̤͙ͭͤ̋̾ͨ͆͗́!̷͉̘̺ͨͨ̋̎́" He said in an Italian accented demon's voice.

So they were reasonably confused when I started cackling like a madman with a hotshot grin on his face. I must have looked like I had either totally lost it or had a trump card to play. I'll give you a hint, it's the latter! I wiped a tear from my eye and flicked it with my pinky finger.

"Oh… aren't you guys a riot, thinking you have me right where you want me like total tools"

"W̦̰̝̱̭͔̰̯̾ḥ̡͇̙̹̫͕̞̏ͤ͐̽ͣͦ͠à̷́ͪ̓͑͛ͣ͏̦̳̬̮t̢͕̭͆̓ͦ̇͛̒͑̈́ͧ ̣̳͇̫̹͓͛ͭ̕a̶̤̳̦͉̣̱̥̠̹͂̆ͫͪ̎̾̅ͨr̨̪͙̝̘̟̭̝̂͛̑͡e̾ͤͮͯ̚͝͏̧͖̱͔̞̟̞̠͓ ̔ͧ̄͑ͥ̈́͏̸͇̣̳̲̱͙̯y̼̫̬̙̹̫͓̺͖ͩ̄̓̓̑͟͠ǒ̷̶̼̩̫̖̳̳̜́̋̒ͧ͛ͩ̌ủ̢̼͙̝ͭ̇̎̏̾͂ ̹̱̮͖͈̯̃̔́t͌̿̊҉̝̯̬̹̼̲̫̝a̷̹̘̤̪̰͑̂͌̐ͨ̃̉l̢̰͙̳̤͖̤̻͇ͧ̾̄͌̂̔͛͘k̢̮̮͎ͬ̓͊̇į̷͂̾̅̍ͩͦ͏̩̥̻͙̭ͅn̸͖̿̿̈̔g̡̻͖̪̯̺͓͍ͥ́ͤ̓́ ̤̭͖ͯ̋̄̕a̠̳̟͔̳͇̗̠ͧ̈́͘͠b̶͓̞̝̘͛͑̿̾͋̔̕o̡̧̪̪̞͎̓̇ͩ̈̍̚u̵̵͎̳̦̹̥̖̇̍̂ͤ̈ͅt̢̩̹̦̻ͣͫ?̨͉͙͉̰̤́͢ ͙̖̟̞͎̄ͬ́w͈̱̬͔͈̮̱̽̿̊ȩ̨̯̲̪̃̀'̶̧̛͓̰̜̳̉͋ͣ̿ͬ̑r̨̬͎͎̥̻̫̳̈́͂̃̈̈̽̀e̪̜̩̺͈̙̞̤ͩͭ̆͛̐́̉ ̜̭̓ͮ͊͛͆̑ͬ͝ḁ̷̢̀̇ͯ̐͐ͪͥͧͫbͤͥ̆̀͏҉̲̖̩̮̪̺ợ̴̬͚̦̗͔͇ͦ͑̆ͩu̷͕̮͖͕ͯ̿͛͊͂̎ͩţ͚̙̓̾̾͘ͅ ̧̥̣͎͓̺͔̜̊̈̓ͭ̓̐̋̋t̢̆̓ͪͣ̓ͧͨ̒͝҉̩̹̭̙͓o̭̍ͮ͝͡ ̠͉̯͎̳̯͓̤͍͆̀d̵̢̤͉̱̥͍̦̥͓͓̉ͯ̃̀̎̍͂̋e͔ͦ̽̂ͭ͐͘v͙̖̖̲͓̗̼̭̗ͫ̌̾ͩ̔̚o̭̘̘̪̞͛͠ͅͅͅų̩͍͑̈̈̍̈̄ͨ̿͐r̖̲̬͓͂̃̑ͧ̕ ̲̱̝̱̎ỹ̷̧̩̗̈́ͫ͑̆ͅô̸̧͖͉͈͍̖̫̣ͮ͌ͥ̍̿́͌̃ụ̵͚̮̤ͯ͒͜͢r ̵͎̝ͤ̅̉̍s̷̡͖̝̲̗̠̲̭͌̇̊̿ͅo̡̍͒̄̿̅̑͏͉u̒ͨ̑͑͑͛͌͏̟̺̩̲̻l̼͇̣̅̒̅͂̐!̷͙̠͍̣̞͖̗̒͋ͥ̊" They protested in a whiny tone, a strange sound coming from a demon's voice. I pulled out a pair of shades from the null space or wherever this random crap comes from and put them on.

"Not today. I'm about to goomba stomp you and your midget boyfriend"

I coiled up before pouncing on Mario first, eliciting the iconic jump sound before trouncing his partner in evil. Flattening them both in a hilariously cartoony fashion and causing them to effervesce out of existence. I casually walked away before stopping and brazenly uttering the necessary one liner.

"Looks like you both got One Upped"

I could have sworn I heard the achievement unlocked sound come from somewhere but I ignored it, as the door out of this lame paradox of my childhood once again decided to pop up (literally) in front of me. Ready to put this bizarre event behind me, I grabbed the latch and swung the door open. I won't tell you what twisted scenario I saw in there but when I left I was in a considerably foul mood, I pretty much ripped the next door off its hinges to unequivocally put the ill-favored exposure behind me.

The only thing of notice here this time around was a well illuminated cylindrical chamber containing a set of spiraling stairs leading up the crystalline column where the door opened. I shook my head with incredulity; did Sombra's trapdoors really think I was afraid of staircases? I had more of a hatred for them actually, why use stairs when they have escalators?

'_Oh wait… they don't have those here_' Face met palm in an epic slap.

Great, now I was depressed. My brief stint with depression was about to be cut short however, as another door slowly materialized out of the crystalline column next to mine. It all but burst open and out egressed none other than my temporary partner Daring Do! She expeditiously (see what I did there?) slammed the door shut behind her and took up a position against it, gasping for air like she ran a few marathons herself. When she noticed me staring at her with an amused expression she chuckled nervously before readjusting her seasoned looking helmet and extricating herself from the door. Acting casually while trying to appear all nonchalant about her no doubt equally nerve racking experience.

"So… how'd it go?" She coyly asked with an innocent smile on her face.

"Scary as balls, but I didn't let it faze me too much. How bout' you?" I grinned like the Cheshire cat on catnip.

"It went great! Discovered a lot about myself in there" She narrowed her eyes, "Too much… I think"

'_I don't even want to know_'

"Well…" I awkwardly started, "Let's get a move on shall we?"

"Let's" She nodded her ascent, eager to let bygone trapdoors be bygones.

"So I guess both doors were the trapdoors, who would have thought huh?" I chuckled as we began clambering up the monolithic stairwell.

"Probably so we'd have to face our fears by ourselves. Wish I could smack the inglorious bastard who made them upside the head" Daring muttered angrily.

"I can certainly share that sentiment… I'd also sock him in the goodies" I jokingly jested.

That got a good snicker from my companion. We carried on in silence; the urge to needle Daring about what she saw was undoubtedly at the forefront on my mind, but since I respected other people's personal privacy enough not to intrude on them I didn't ask. As it was, Daring did not feel the same way.

"So what nightmares did you experience running the gauntlet? Betcha they weren't as scary as mine if you managed to get here first" She spoke with the utmost brashness as she pointed a thumb at herself.

"Are you an arachnophobe Daring?" I neutrally asked.

"Pfft, Spiders? Pshaw… of course not. I encounter them all the time in my line of work! Nothing I couldn't handle." She proudly said, probably feeling like her previous statement was already justified.

I just gave her an emotionless look and spoke in an ominous voice.

"You would be if you went through what I did" That shut her up nice and good, it helps that I can be quite the actor if I should so choose. Although Spiders are legitimately scary (shudders).

"What about after? I know the doors don't make you face only one fear" Daring enquired.

"Just a couple of demons that wanted to carve out my heart and bake it into blood cakes" I dispassionately summarized.

"Oh.." Daring vocalized, clearly confused at my casual carefree description, "You make it sound like it's a common thing for you"

"Common? Naw, I'm just not intimidated by something I know I can just Goomba stomp into oblivion" (Video game logic you know?)

"Goomba stomp? What is it with you and all these weird allusions?" She asked,

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you" I sidestepped her somewhat risky question.

"Try me" She pushed the topic.

"Maybe later" I pressed back.

She made that small growling sound women can sometimes make when they're frustrated and jabbed a finger in my chest. Stopping our ascendance up the seemingly endless flight of stairs as she bore her eyes into mine, despite the fact that she was a good deal shorter than me.

"Listen bub, you better not be keeping any treacherous secrets from me or I'll drop you like a bad habit. Is that clear?" She warned. Her tone was low and dangerous, as though she made threats like this before. Given her lifestyle, that wasn't entirely out of the question.

"Crystal" I replied, my voice impassive and unreadable as always.

"Excellent!" She cheerfully chirped and bounded up the stairs with a near imperceptible skip in her step. The sudden change in attitude almost had me staggering off the edge. Not that it would've mattered since I had my wings, but still.

'_Women, they can emulate bipolar symptoms like the real deal. Except there's no regimen for them, it's either the cold shoulder treatment or hell's fury as far as they're concerned_' I mused with oodles of cynicism. I kept a respectable distance behind Daring, mostly for two reasons; her last actions put me off just a tad… and because she had a shapely posterior.

'Dude… dat ass. I bet that's not the only shapely thing about her with her level of fitness. *Wink wink nudge nudge!*'

'_Dammit Brain! We're in hot enough water with her right now as it is! Although I do have to agree with that assessment._ _Bow Chicka Wow Wow!_'

"So what else did you see?" Daring asked, as if the whole prior death threat thing never happened.

To be honest I expected no less, women are complicated creatures that have baffled men for millennia and we are still no closer to truly understanding them. Trying to comprehend them would be like defusing an atom bomb, except women can explode more than once upon screwing up. As far as Daring's question went, by no means was I willing to answer directly.

"Nothing worth mentioning" I was glad Daring couldn't see my rapidly darkening expression.

"What about you? You've grilled me for answers so it's only fair you told me your own worst fears" I retorted irritably.

"Maybe later" She priggishly responded with a vile smirk on her face.

'_Well… I suppose turnabout is fair play_'

"Whatever…" I disinterestedly shot back.

By this point, we had traversed dozens and dozens of steps… and it didn't seem like it was about to end either. I contemplated just using my wings and flying to the top and just wait for my incredibly irksome partner to catch up, but something told me that she wouldn't take kindly to being reminded of her disability. That… and I am a gentleman, I don't leave a lady behind simply because I was too lazy to lift my fat ass up some stairs. Even if a lady wasn't currently present in my company… Zing!

"Jeez… does drinking from the Crystal Chalice give somebody Bathmomania on top of power mad psychosis?" I groaned in exhaust.

"Certainly seems like it" Daring agreed, breathing in as hard as I was. I was somewhat impressed that she knew the word Bathmomania to begin with.

"You know, you could just fly up to the top…" Daring softly spoke.

"Yeah I could, but then who would keep you company? We'll suffer these lousy stairs together" I obstinately insisted.

"You know something Zenith? You're not a half bad guy" Daring complimented with her first real smile towards me since our little trip began.

'_She has a wonderful smile, so full of life, courage, and just a hint of playful mischief_' I blissfully observed, I was about to simply dismiss her flattery with my usual passivity but she continued.

"I also wanted to apologize about earlier, the not so thinly masked threat I mean? It's just that it isn't the first time I had a partner with hidden intentions almost stab me in the back…" She trailed off at the end.

'_Great… now I feel bad about zinging her earlier. She's frustrating even when she's sincere!_' I mentally sighed before deciding on cheering her up.

"Hey" I tenderly spoke, "I'm not the kind of guy who would do that to you, and you're too awesome to break trust with. Besides…my 'secret' isn't something that concerns you or your work in any way shape or form, I'm just a from a very far off land that's in some ways, even more unbelievable than this place"

"I believe you" She said in a warmhearted voice, before an expression of intrigue flashed across her features, "I don't think you've ever told me where a Valkyrian like you hailed from"

"That's because you never asked" I sarcastically said, receiving a slug in the arm from Daring for my efforts. Despite being a girl, she still hit pretty hard. Causing me to rub the soon to be sore spot with an imperceptible grimace of discomfort.

"Okay wise guy, cough it up. Where's home for you and what brought you here to this city?" She asked with genuine inquisitiveness.

"Foreign born, the reason I'm in this Kingdom is a little more complex. But simply put, I'm getting Arcanian citizenship granted to me by the Princess if I did her a favor" I explained.

"Did it involve chasing down relics of unspeakable power along with a dynamic and charismatic adventurer? Or a different kind of favor?" She gave me a lecherous grin while elbowing me provocatively.

"You're incorrigible" I replied with a shake of my head, "Besides… I'm pretty sure that she's married"

"Uh huh… sure" Daring verbalized while still wearing that dirty grin.

"Where are you from?" I asked her, put off with her lewd behavior.

"Me? Oh, I'm a Las Valkryas girl" She said with a hint of home pride in her voice.

"Really? I would've thought someone like you would have been born someplace more…"

"Tropic?" She finished for me, "Yeah that's what most people would think, but to be honest I'm just as much at home in the city as I am in the jungles"

"You certainly are a fascinating individual Daring Do" I venerated, intrigued with this new information.

"Yup! And I'm all woman" She winked at me before laughing at my befuddled look.

'_Not sure if she's screwing with me, or actually being a wanton flirt. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I wasn't the slightest bit interested_'

"Without a doubt" I said inattentively, feigning disinterest anyway. Daring didn't look like she bought the act, but didn't press any further since we were drawing close to the top.

The staircase ended in a rotunda that offered a spectacular view of the surrounding kingdom through flat gem studded columns that lined the room.

I realized that this must have been the very top of the main Crystal Spire extending out of the citadel. A floating crystal heart greatly resembling the one downstairs except for its oscillating nature hovered calmly over the ever present emblem of the Krystal Kingdom. My partner and I advanced toward the heart, intent on making heads or tails of our still unknown next step. Thankfully, we didn't have to do much as the heart suddenly twinkled brilliantly with lights of all colors of the spectrum before coalescing into a bright white light that pierced the halcyon veil of the climate barrier and pointed in the direction of a portion of the mountain ranges enveloping the kingdom.

Coincidentally, I noted that it was exactly opposite of where I helped put an end to the feral snow dragon. The most intriguing part was that the train tracks leading out of the kingdom meandered in that very same direction. The shrill sound of a train whistle about to depart was blaring in the windy breeze and echoed in our ears. I turned to my accomplice in action affairs and sarcastically stated.

"Looks like we have a train to catch"


	8. Chapter 8:Catharsis, climax, & excursion

Chapter 8: A Catharsis, a Climax, and an Extraordinary Excursion

So there we stood at the apex of the Crystal Citadel, peering down the ledge in the direction of the train station after a facsimile of the embodiment of the goodwill of the kingdom's inhabitants downstairs conveniently showed us the way we had to go next. A train about to make its final boarding call leading in that direction was sounding its whistle at regular intervals. If we were going to make it aboard on time, we'd have to take the express elevator down. Seeing as they didn't have those however, that left one other alternative…

My companion and I glanced at each other; her expression was that of coy innocence while mine was an unenthusiastic frown, having already anticipated her idea in advance.

"No… no freakin' way" I automatically responded.

"Got a better plan?" She rhetorically asked, smirking in victory when she knew that I didn't.

"Do I look like a pack mule to you?" I griped, completely at unease with was going to happen next.

"Quit whining. Don't you want to be ridden?" She grinned lasciviously.

Ignoring her crude conduct, I sighed in exasperation before closing my eyes and summoning my wings. Their now comforting presence sitting on my shoulders once again. The strong breeze at this elevation made them flitter and ripple in the wind, sending a strange sensation coursing through my brain. Shaking off the slight daze, I gesticulated towards myself with open arms to Daring; something she took no hesitation in pestering me for.

"Why Zenith, how forward of you!" She held a hand to her chest in mock shock and swayed seductively.

'_Guess Piercy hit the nail on the head with his imitation_' I humorously observed.

"Please don't make this worse than it already is for me" I quietly remonstrated.

"Don't you worry, I'll be gentle" She sensually said, making me groan in vexation.

'_I'm not sure which is more infuriating, her being a total grouch or a coquette!_'

She stalked towards me in a manner I found almost predatory before latching onto me in a secure embrace. Her soft chest pressing against mine in a supple fashion caused mental proximity alarms to perpetually ring in my mind, registering on my face as a twitch of the right eye.

'_Dude focus; you don't wanna wind up as a striking impression of strawberry jelly smushed against the sidewalk_' I sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

Before making the dive off the ledge, an absolutely diabolical idea arose in my thoughts; resulting in a near manic grin appearing on my face. '_Might as well have some fun with this_' I deviously schemed.

"Well, here goes nothing" I casually spoke as I ventured off the ledge backwards with my passenger in tow.

Even though it was probably a foolish thing of me to do, I kept my wings folded until halfway down the provisional base jump. My very close companion was screaming colorful invectives the whole way once she realized what I was (or more specifically wasn't) doing. It may have been a cheap and slightly immature move, but I thought the payback was well worth it. When I noticed the ground approaching a little too fast for my own comfort, I flared my wings out and diminished our velocity like a makeshift parachute. We touched down batman style just in front of the citadel, with some passerby's standing in awe of our dynamic downfall.

Daring loosened her death grip on me before giving me a baleful glare that could have turn a cockatrice to stone, but my indifference was so thick it just bounced off.

"What the heck was that for!? You could have gotten us killed!" She shouted, practically foaming at the mouth in raw vehemence.

I shrugged apathetically, "Hey, you don't get to complain when you pick Zenith airlines as your premier choice of travel" I sarcastically chirped, receiving another harsh slug in the arm from Daring.

'_Ow… the look on her face was totally worth it though, *mental high five!*_'

The strident scream of a train whistle once more reminded us that we had a tight schedule to keep. I nodded with my head in its direction to my irate partner, with Daring begrudgingly dropping our little altercation in favor of catching the train before it left the station. We darted towards the station as fast as our legs could take us, rushing our way past the peregrinating people pandering to their verisimilitude of a quaint and carefree existence. Unfortunately, our way to the station took us through one of the market areas. Even though it was later in the afternoon, there were still crowds of people perusing the local wares. I juked around them as best as I could, but I couldn't manage to avoid one cabbage grocer wheeling his cart right into my path. Thinking quickly, I used my wings to add some power to my jump and pulled a quick somersault over it.

'_Wow… parkour is so much easier with wings!_' I thought with gleeful satisfaction.

My wingless partner tailing me however was not so lucky. She pretty much bowled over the poor man and his cart, sending the heads rolling down the street.

"MY CABBAGES! NOOO!" He wailed, his inventory suddenly depleted.

"My bad! Send the bill to the institute!" She called back, either purposefully neglecting to mention which institute or forgetting altogether.

We were making good time; the train depot was just coming into view. The sooty exhaust from the iron horse's smokestack lightly billowing in the breeze. It was your typical 19th century setup, the locomotive and a tender or coal car latched to the engine along with a total of eight passenger coaches and cargo cars; sadly there was no caboose to be found. I was going to swiftly storm the ticket counter for our admission when I heard screams of distress coming from the train; multitudes of people appeared to be fleeing from the cars in droves as though it was in the process of being hijacked…

'_Wait….oh crap_'

The train gears suddenly ground against the rails, a noisy scraping sound being the only indicator that it was suddenly departing, other than a battered conductor being unceremoniously tossed out of the driver's cab by an unseen assailant.

"C'mon, we can't let it get away!" Daring shouted to me as she vaulted the gap between the platform and the rearmost rail car as the train left the station. I quickly followed suit before I was left behind to deal with the fallout back at the station. I landed stiffly on the metal grating, causing it to reverberate loudly as it withstood the brunt of my weight. My partner had already flung open the door to the freight car and had progressed inside without me.

I was certainly no stranger to excitement by now, but I had no idea what I was going up against here. My money (which clinked noisily in my pouch the entire time) was on the probability that the rival that Daring said had beaten her to the codex back in Marabia was now in control of the rapidly accelerating train. Based on how the culprits managed to dispatch Cadence's guards back in the repository, I'd safely say that they were definitely dangerous. As the train eventually surpassed the climate barrier and into the windy wintery wasteland, I cautiously entered the rail car and after my courageous companion. Inside it looked like your typical Hollywood style freight coach; boxes of various materials were stacked on top of another in a somewhat haphazard alignment of rows.

'_Oh God, I hope there isn't a shooting section. At least the train is civilian free, I hope_' I nervously thought, knowing this world's penchant for exploiting clichés.

Thankfully it was not to be, I'm deathly allergic to bullets and collateral damage anyway. Instead, I came across a scuffle by the time I reached the fourth rail car. Daring was facing off against two large and muscular brigands wearing the animal skins of a black panther and a tiger respectively. They were wielding claw like weapons attached to their hands like knuckle dusters with a sharp attitude. Because of the close quarters, Daring didn't have enough room to use her whip; instead she used vaguely aikido like tactics to redirect her opponent's own attack momentum against them while weaving and ducking around them like an expert. A third thug, this one wearing a Lynx skin noticed me and approached with lethal intent in his eyes. He drew his weapons, a pair of warrior's spirt-esque claws that seemed to be dripping with some kind of liquid before striking them together and setting them alight while giving me a blood thirsty grin.

"You gotta be kidding me" was my disbelieving statement, both at the violation of physics and his morbid showmanship in doing so.

'_Where's Bruce Lee when you need him? He's dealt with claw wielding murderous psychopaths before!_' I wishfully thought.

My opponent did not grace me with an answer, instead opting to charge me and make a few swipes at my neck. I backpedaled out of the way and withdrew my Tantō from its substitute sheath in my belt loops, holding it in a reverse grip and silently grateful for my plan ahead ideology. My aggressor paused momentarily to eye my blade before giving me a distasteful and greedy sneer.

"That knife will make a fine trophy; I shall enjoy looting it from your soon to be mutilated corpse" He boldly boasted.

"Yeah? Come and take it dickweed" I defiantly replied, standing my ground.

(Cue the dramatic music!)

I looked calm on the outside, but on the inside I was an anxious wreck. I had no combat training! I could actually die here! But I didn't really have much of a choice; if I tried to run away he'd get a free swing at my backside, my wings were of no use in the cramped cargo compartments, and this degenerate was just asking for an ass kicking. Plus I couldn't just leave Daring to face these scumbags by herself, call it foolish male pride but I had developed a protective complex for women in peril; even if they aggravate the hell out of me. I swore I saw the emblem on my knife briefly light up as I thought that. The man opposite of me snarled at my riposte and slashed at me repeatedly; there was no tactical pattern to his attacks at all. This man just really wanted to tear me a new one based on how furious his strikes were. I evaded as best as I could manage, nearly receiving a few close shaves for my efforts. It may have been my imagination or the adrenaline that was no doubt coursing through my veins, but his onslaught of swipes and slashes were getting slower and easier to avoid. Perhaps he was getting weary? Regardless I used the extra breathing room to mentally recite some advice.

'_Okay Zenith think! The flight book mentioned something that Valkyrian's had as an advantage in a fight! What was the passage? "Strength is the brute's weapon, poison is the thief's weapon, and speed is the Skyborn's weapon" I have to outmaneuver him!_'

That was easier said than done, the tight quarter's left little room for mistake. It certainly didn't help that the sudden switchbacks that the train was climbing made me nearly lose balance several times; although to be fair it threw my mutual enemy off balance as well, preventing him from landing a critical hit on me on many occasions. I may have had a good height advantage over my opponent, which meant I could outreach him and hopefully land a few hits myself. But he was crafty little bugger, constantly closing the distance I attempted to put between us to negate that handicap. I spotted an opening just as he tried a heavy handed downward strike, landing it and getting his right claw stuck on a crate behind me. I used that opportune moment to insert my blade between the bindings holding the savage weapon to his hand and wrenched it away from him. Giving him a nasty looking gash in the process that he held while howling in pain and fury. By now, our little dance had taken us back a whole rail car; so the disarmed and still inflamed weapon had landed amongst an opened case of inconveniently placed dynamite rods and lit their alarmingly short fuses.

"Oh shit!" I scrambled away as fast as I could, sloppily sheathing my weapon in the process. My opponent was too distracted by his injury to notice why I was fleeing with as much haste as I could muster.

I retreated for all but five seconds into the succeeding freight car before a monstrously loud blast accompanied by a shockwave enveloped the previous rail car and the unfortunate soul still inside. The explosion knocked me off my feet and sent me flying forward several feet into one of the passenger cars. I had time to see the shocked faces of Daring and her aggressors locked in a stalemate before I collided headfirst with the backrest of one of the velveteen lined passenger benches and knew no more.

I awoke to a splitting headache and the sound of various objects detaching from their place and falling past me into the snowy abyss below. I slowly shifted around in the seat I had somehow stayed affixed to on the floor panels and examined myself.

'_Ugh, it feels like someone took a sledgehammer to my face. Wait… falling objects?_' I took in my current situation, I was covered in scrapes and bruises but favorably was no worse for wear overall. Couldn't say the same about my contemporary position though, it was a real mess.

Apparently the detonating TNT sheared apart the rail car and derailed the rest of the train. Because it had just reached the top of the mountainous embankment, the other rail cars tumbled around in such a way that the one I was currently in was perched precariously many hundreds of feet over a steep cliff.

'_Is this what Nathan Drake had to deal with? He was completely right, this totally blows. At least I ain't been shot on top of it, god I despise cliffhangers_' I internally lamented.

I was about to search for my companion and see if she was alright before the sound of creaking materials alerted me to movement below where I was seated. I held a hand to my backside, sighing in relief when I felt the reassuring smooth crimson wood handle of the Tantō still secured to my person. I gripped the handle securely in case one of those cat crazy crooks was still around. Groaning in discomfort and more than a little bit of soreness, I shifted around in my seat to get a good look at what was occurring below. Auspiciously, it was just Daring climbing up whatever she could find a handhold on in the rail car hanging below. However, her good fortune was about to be shaken quite severely and quite literally. The coupler connecting this car and the one Daring was clambering up, began to loosen with a sickly grinding noise before slowly disengaging itself from the lock. Daring saw this and frantically began to jump climb before leaping across the gap between the two recently disjoined rail cars to grab onto the metal slab interposed between the box shaped metal draft gear coupler of the passenger coach I was inhabiting at the moment.

"Hey sleeping beauty! A little help here?" She tried to hide the fear in her voice with sarcasm but there was a noticeable tremor, can't say I blamed her. That tends to happen to people just one imminent slip away from plummeting to their doom.

"Hang on Dee Dee! Be with you in a sec!" I shouted down to her, before analyzing the way down. There were plenty of things I could use to climb down, the seat benches that weren't unbolted from the floor looked secure enough for me to shimmy myself down to Daring. The curtain bars looked like a good secondary in case the bench idea didn't work. With that in mind I enacted my barely thought out plan, slowly but surely hopping down from one seat bench to the other as I neared my dangling partner.

"Zenith! I'm starting to slip!" Her voice was in full panic now.

I just about reached her when she lost her hold and began to freefall.

'_Shit!_' I mentally cursed, without second thought for my own safety I dove after her.

She assumed a flat form which increased her wind resistance and decreased her terminal velocity, whether or not she did that on purpose was lost to me since she was busy screaming her lungs out. I assumed an aerodynamic bullet shape and nosedived after her; I rapidly closed the distance between the two of us and grabbed her. I was very glad she wasn't frantic enough to be flailing about or this would have been obscenely difficult. With her securely in my embrace I reoriented us perpendicular to the speedily approaching ground and pumped my wings for all they were worth. Thankfully, the airbrakes on Zenith airlines worked wonders and slowed our descent to a halt. Daring was hugging me with such intense strength as to put a grizzly bear to shame.

"Uhm… Dee Dee? I kind of need to breathe here" I managed to wheeze out.

She loosened her clamp like vice on me and liberated my airway passages so they could be put back into operation. Something I liberally took advantage of, Daring was also huffing exorbitantly from the ordeal herself.

"You saved me…" She eked out between gasps of Oxygen.

"Of course I did" I curtly replied, "I wouldn't leave the great Daring Do hanging would I?" I couldn't resist making the pun; she however didn't notice or was too grateful to care about my facetious attitude to us nearly dying several times.

"Thanks" She softly said, "I guess I owe you one huh?" She chuckled.

"Consider it on the house, I'm just glad that's over with" I chuckled along with her before peering up, my pupils shrinking at what I saw.

"Spoke too soon" Was all I managed before the incoming passenger car engulfed us in its maw like a hungry beast pouncing upon its unsuspecting prey. Miraculously, we harmlessly passed through its corridor and out the other side as the dilapidated corpse of a rail car slammed into the hard ground below and impacted the Earth with a near deafening rumble. Of course, that didn't stop us both from screaming out in fright (Mine was manly of course!) at the sudden encapsulation. Afterwards, Daring and I both looked at each other before breaking out into a mix nervous and relieved laughter.

'_Good thing the door were open on both sides, otherwise we'd have been flattened!_' I shook myself out of my astonished reverie.

"Well, before anything else tries to promptly kill us; let's make for high ground shall we?" I suggested to my companion.

"Sounds like the best idea I've heard yet today" She sighed in exhaustion.

"Stick around, I'm full of good ideas" I optimistically stated, intentionally twisting Isaac Clarke's quote in the aspiration of achieving positive fortune. Although I knew better than to get my hopes up, the universe has rarely been generous to me lately it seems.

I lifted us both up the Cliffside until we both had semi solid snowy ground beneath our feet. The tangled mess of wreckage from the train derailment was scattered all over the snow drifts leading from the rail line. Fires that managed to catch the wooden roofs of the rail coaches were slowly consuming them and turning them into burnt tinder. An array of materials from the cargo cars were dispersed all over the crash site, Daring promptly picked up whatever she could scrounge to replace the gear she lost earlier in the pile up, including a modest messenger pouch and perishables in the form of power bars and heavily dented water canteens. She even added a couple sticks of dynamite leftover from some of the undetonated explosive crates to our inventory.

I meanwhile was wondering why they'd have dynamite on the train to begin with, but I'd learned to quickly dismiss the odd things that this world constantly brought to my attention. Instead I concerned myself with whether or not we were alone in the ram shackled ruins of what passed for a train. I conducted a quick sweep of the area with my hand constantly on my knife handle, but I found no one else besides us. I rejoined Daring who was warming herself by one of the shambled piles of wreckage that was currently acting as a campfire and sat beside her, instantly yelping in pain and grumbling to myself as I realized that I had plopped down on a jagged piece of debris. I tossed the offending object as far as I could over the Cliffside as comeuppance for its heinous act. Then I turned my attention to the pensive looking woman next to me.

"Hey, what happened to those two cat skin wearing lackeys you were tussling with?" I asked curiously.

"After that violent explosion jumbled the whole train of the rails, they were both defenestrated out the windows. I got lucky, only fell into an open lavatory room the rail car below" She replied.

"Gross" I grimaced at the unsavory thought.

"Nah, I came out clean. It was out of order" She smirked, "Can't say the same about Scratch and Growl"

"Wait… you knew those guys?" I asked; since they didn't look terribly familiar to me.

"Yeah, they were some of the top goons working for my arch rival. A small mercenary group called the Wild Cats" She explained.

"You never did reveal who this rival of yours was" I hinted for a full account.

She took in a deep breath before speaking, "He calls himself Ahuizotl, power hungry rogue aristocrat from some region with a name equally difficult to pronounce and very far removed from here" Before I could ask for more information she stood and dusted herself off.

"We should get moving soon, before a snowstorm covers up those tracks" She started off in the direction of an uneven set of three tracks pointing in the direction of the mountain range. I relinquished my inquiries and followed her professional lead as usual.

We walked for several hours, the light slowly dimming until it was early nightfall. The tracks eventually reached into an outcropping in the slope of one of the mountains. We climbed that outcropping to find that it reached into a small rocky cave. Realizing that the tracks stopped there, we opted to settle down for the night. Even though we had our Valkryian resistance to the natural elements, the ground was still frigid and uncomfortably cold. I saw Daring reach into one of her vest pockets and pull out what looked like dried grass.

"What is that?" I asked, curious at how it would help.

"It's called brushfire grass, even a tiny amount can burn for hours on end. It's found in the savanna regions of Zstarasia and Aridia. As you can probably guess, brushfires can be a serious problem there." She demonstrated by pulling out a match and setting fire to the small crumpled pile of grass. Despite its miniscule amount, it didn't curl up or crispate in the slightest and warmed the surrounding air to more tolerable levels.

I sat down criss cross style close by to the fireside, slowly mesmerized by the flickering of the flames; which burned with a curious yellow tinge. My invaluable companion sat next to me and removed her iconic pith helmet and ran a hand down her gray scaled locks of hair; something I noticed was a lot more beat up and worn looking up close. I decided to question her about it to pass the time.

"I'm guessing that ol' thing has a sentimental value attached to it huh?" I said with sarcasm free sincerity.

"More than you know. This ol' thing… belonged to my grandfather and ultimate role model, the famous explorer and safari man Tally Ho. Ever since I was a little girl; I aspired to be more like my Grandpappy. Fierce, fearless, audacious and valorous… just like him" She smiled a melancholy smile, reliving some of the cherished memories.

"What happened to him?" I asked, interested in knowing more.

"One day he went on one of his expeditions, some kind of secretive relic recovery excursion … and never came back, this helmet is all I have left to remember him by" She cradled it like it was a precious child while stroking the olivine band that encompassed the weathered head wear.

"Oh, I'm sorry for bringing that up Daring. I shouldn't have aske.." I was going to finish my apologies but she cut me off with a wave of her hand.

"No, it's quite alright. I've had plenty of time to adjust to that fact. After all, one lesson Grandpappy instilled in me was to 'keep a stiff upper lip Daring my girl and you'll go far!'" She imitated in her best Englishman accent. Eliciting a small chuckle from me, despite the despondent atmosphere of our conversation.

"He sounds like he was a cool guy. That kind of enterprising charisma must run in the family" I complimented her to which she shrugged.

"Wouldn't know, I never got to fully acquaint myself with my parents" She spoke with indifference gained from a lifetime of introspection.

"What happened to them?" I asked, almost apprehensive of the answer.

"They died when I was an infant; my grandpappy was the only family I had" She sadly stated, confirming my worried suspicions.

"So when he never returned…" I began.

"I had to be put in an orphanage until I was of the age where I could strike it out on my own" She finished for me, "The Las Valkyras local government kept his assets preserved for me until I was legally old enough to claim them. My grandpappy may not have been a terribly rich man, but he sure left me a lot of presents to forge my own reputation with" She finished with a mirthless chortle.

Wanting to change the topic to something a little less of a tender spot I continued down that line to see where it led.

"So how did you get your big start? How did you become the famous Daring Do, adventuress extraordinaire?" I enquired with enthusiasm in my voice.

"One of my grandpappy's old friends, a Professor Stratigraphy got me interested in paleology and eventually petitioned the Concordia Institute of Archaeology to give me a chance to join them. They issued me a challenge, bring them a priceless foreign relic and they would admit me into their ranks. So I consolidated my newly acquired assets, trained intensively, and set out to make a name for myself"

"Which relic did you bring them?" I asked, fully enraptured in her tale.

"A little something called the Sapphire Statue" She smirked at me. Even though I had no idea what its significance was, I nodded and acted impressed for her sake.

"Wow… and for your first relic retrieval too! The people at the institute must have been surprised at such resourcefulness. I mean the Sapphire Statue? That's downright awesome right there" I laid it on thick to be extra sure. She seemed to beam with pride at my display of admiration. I once more was grateful for my acting skills and unrevealing stolid facial expression.

"More than surprised, they were downright flabbergasted. The temple I retrieved it from is nestled deep inside one of the harshest rainforests out there! Not to mention that the Temple itself is absolutely jam packed full of booby traps"

'_Tee hee, she said booby_' An immature part of my mind painstakingly pointed out.

'_Shut up Brain, this is neither the time nor the place_' I chastised myself.

"Nothing an experienced adventurer such as yourself couldn't handle I'm sure" I stated with confidence.

"Well, not everything went as smoothly as I would have liked. I nearly bought the farm several times, what with the rolling man sized boulders, falling spike traps, magma cauldrons, poison dart launchers, quick sand pits, feral water buffalo, and last but not least, the slowly sinking stone slab of crushing defeat" She finished listing the various health hazards of said Sapphire Statue temple.

"Wow… how in the world did you get past the water buffalo?" I legitimately asked. She gave me a funny look as if she wasn't expecting me to choose that particular obstacle out of the multitude she recounted.

"I'm dying of suspense… really" I added in my best imitation of the Sith Inquisitor's voice. She continued to stare in confusion at me but eventually yielded to my indomitable will with a slow shake of her head.

"There was a hidden switch on one of the torch sconces, flooded the chamber with saline rich water and mud. The water buffalo calmed down after that, happy enough to wallow around in the muck" She recalled with an amused smile.

"Neat, so when did you get the idea to publish your adventures?" I asked, very interested in knowing how Daring Do became a literary household name.

"Funny story actually, it was shortly after I brought back the Sapphire Statue to the institute. One of the officials there was so taken aback by the sheer number of hindrances I had to overcome that he felt as if my maiden expedition was 'something out of an adventure book', I told him that if it wasn't by that point, then it would be now. So I set out on a different kind of quest to find a publisher who was looking for a good story slash autobiography to write and sell copies of" She took a deep intake of air and clicked her tongue in a thoughtful manner.

"I imagine that once you found one, it became quite a lucrative practice" I interjected during the pause.

"Of course! But I had to find one first remember? Eventually and after being turned down by dozens of short sighted publishers, I came across an upstart like myself by the name of Hard Cover. We agreed upon a fair deal, I got half and he got half of the proceeds. My only other request was that he didn't publish myself under another name for anonymity reasons"

"Wait, how does using your actual name keep you anonymous?" I asked, confused at first.

"Think about it, no one would suspect that Daring Do would be my actual name. They would automatically assume it to be some kind of nom de plume per se, plus I don't have to pretend to be someone else other than myself! On top of that, I can use the income from the book series to help subsidize my successive expeditions" She exclaimed happily.

"Well, you certainly seem to have a nice little system worked out. Are you going to get this little adventure of ours turned into a novel?" I inquisitively asked.

"Most likely, although I can't think of a decent title for the life of me" She cocked her head to the side as she mulled it over.

"How about… Daring Do and the chase for the Crystal Chalice?" I suggested.

"Huh, that's not a bad idea. I'll have to run it by my agent once I get back to Concordia" She said as she put her beloved helmet to the side before she removed her messenger bag and set it aside as well.

"Just be sure to give credit to where it's due yea?" I raised my brow expectantly.

"Perish the thought that the great Zenith should be excluded from his place in the series Do!" Daring sarcastically jested.

"How true to your adventures is the series?" I enquired, ignoring her jab.

"Hard Cover edits a few things for the sake of reader anticipation, but more or less it's exactly what I deal with on my ventures" She tentatively explained.

"Just another day in the life of Daring Do huh?" I playfully suggested to which she nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. And given how crazy my life can get sometimes, editing isn't even really required"

"I don't doubt it; you certainly like to live life on the edge" I shook my head in near disbelief at the debacle earlier.

"Just not literally" She chuckled softly, no doubt thinking along the same lines.

"Oh? You have a book series that disagrees with that statement" I cunningly bantered with her.

She threw a fake annoyed look my way, "You know what I mean ya' blockhead"

The soft crackling of the bush grass fed fire was the only sound to permeate the cave for a short time; I was content to merely watch the yellowish flames flicker and dance together in a poetic display of raw natural emotion. Eventually the silence was interrupted by my companion, who gave me a cursory glance as she did so.

"So… you already have a pet name for me? Dee Dee was it?" She had a strange expression as she said that.

"Well I wouldn't say it was a pet name so much as an efficient nickname. That… and I was a fan of the Dexter's Laboratory series as a kid, you sometimes remind me of the main character's sister Dee Dee" I neglected to tell her it was because she was could be both annoying as hell yet endearing at the same time.

"Is that another book series? I haven't heard of it" She said as she wracked her mind for a reference to it.

"No, it was more of an animated play really. Besides, I highly doubt you'd recognize any of the things from home that I admire" She gave a thoughtful hum as she digested that.

"It's just that only one other person has ever called me that, an old friend from the orphanage" She had a small nostalgic smile on her face, "I was in the middle of a free fall to my demise and that was the first thing on my mind" She let out a self-deprecating laugh, clearly appalled with herself.

"Hey, I caught you… and I wouldn't be surprised with your initials and everything" I reasoned.

"Perhaps…and thanks again for that" She finished with a drained sounding suspire.

"Anytime Dee Dee" I replied with a small smile.

It more or less continued that way until we both grew weary. We were of one mind that Ow-who- what's his face and his goons would also have to wait for daylight hours to continue their power mad gambit the same as us. It certainly helped that we deprived them of purloining any lighting resources or other materials during the derailment. '_I'm positively atremble with anticipation to tell her highness all about that one_'So with that line of thinking concluded, we both settled down for a cozy doze by the fireside. Thankful for a brief respite from the taxing action and adrenaline rushes. I was about to succumb to the compelling pull of slumber when I felt something, or more specifically some_one_ snuggle up next to me.

"Uhm…what are you doing?" I warily asked her.

"What does it look like doofus? I'm sharing body heat" She explained with an unsure tone, as if she were trying to convince herself that what was she was really doing.

"We're Valkryians Daring, we have superior resistance to the cold. That's a transparent excuse and you know it" I indicated to her, she continued her flimsy ruse regardless.

"Yeah well… you make for a great pillow!" She said, flustered from a mix of frustration and embarrassment all the while.

"Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that" I dubiously stated.

"Damn it! Why do you have to be so impossible!?" She deploringly protested.

"Right back at cha" I smartly retorted. Before she started seething with relentless anger, I placated her.

"I'm too tired to argue about this, you get a free night's pass to use me as your personal teddy bear this one time only" I proffered to her.

"Pfft… fine then, jerk" She groused, shifting closer anyway. She positioned her head right over my chest, comfortable enough to get some shut eye.

"You have a nice sounding heartbeat" She mentioned offhandedly.

"Let's hope it remains that way" I was too burned out to say anything else.

We stayed wrapped in each other's warmth for the rest of the night.

Strangely enough I woke from my dreamless slumber before my still dozing partner, the morning rays from the Sun illuminating the cave through the crevice we entered. The woman had a light snore that even I couldn't help but find somewhat adorable. Calmly relieved that she didn't take the liberty of drooling all over my faintly torn shirt, I gently and laboriously excised myself from her grasp. Even asleep, I could see the displeased expression on her face when her substitute pillow was suddenly absent; it was enough to almost make me feel guilty… almost. It soon passed none the less and I turned towards more important matters. I then used that opportunity to do some morning stretches and take stock of my own personal inventory. '_Ipod and ear buds; check. Money bag; check. Tantō; check. Flash and smoke canisters; check and check_' Call me paranoid, but if my meeting with the Princess went south for whatever reason; I would follow suit and escape in a flash of smoke and noise, making use of my wings to fly as fast as I could to the less arctic lands of Arcania. As it happened, that graciously did not occur; I'm still flabbergasted at how easily Cadence dismissed my story of being an extra dimensional visitor, though to be fair she didn't look like she whole heartedly believed it. However …I had a sneaking suspicion that I would still have a use for both decampment cylinders by the end of the day.

The stirring sound of someone awakening with a loud yawn roused me from my ruminations. Daring sat up from her spot on the gravely ground looking strangely bright eyed and bushy tailed. '_Guess she's a morning person_' I mused, not surprised in the least.

"G'Morning, how is our intrepid adventuress feeling today?" I asked with a chipper tone.

"Ready to take on the world" She chirped with equal pleasantry as she completed her own morning stretch routine.

"Ambitious, I like that. But I'd suggest starting small with Owl-who-zotle and his glorified thugs" I quipped.

"Ahuizotl" She corrected, "But that can wait, breakfast first!" She then reached for her pack, opened it, and tossed me a power bar along with one of the dented canteens; doing the same for herself.

I bit into it, almost wincing at its dryness. I chewed carefully before swallowing and stifling a shudder as it went down.

"Well… it ain't no hot pocket, but it still beats nothing" I muttered.

"Hot pocket?" Daring asked, intrigued.

"It's basically a pocket of bread with filler inside; meats, veggies, whatever you want. One just has to pop it into a special device known as a microwave and in forty five to sixty seconds you got a hot meal ready to eat!" I took another bite of the dreadful power bar from hell as I completed my tiny lecture on the marvels of microwave appliances and processed food.

"Wow! I can't tell you how many times that would have worked wonders for me!" She exclaimed, clearly astonished with this small aspect of home.

"I should plan a visit someday" She murmured offhand to herself.

"You're an adept traveler Daring, but I doubt even you can cross jump dimensions" I dubiously sniped, before realizing my mistake. '_Crap!_'

"Dimensions? Didn't you tell me you were foreign born?" She asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yeah… one hundred percent American. You won't find it on any map here" I reluctantly explained, resigned to paying the price for this small penalty.

"American huh? I like the ring of it. Well c'mon American, let's go" She made way into the depths of the cave, apparently unconcerned with the alien dimension clause.

'_Huh, I expected more than that. Maybe the universe is giving me a break?_' My expression became deadpan, '_Ha! Fat chance of that happening_' I thought sardonically before jogging to catch up with my oddly permissive partner.

As we treaded further down the deepening fathoms of the cave, I was rather confused by the uncannily warm draft of air kissing our skin much like when I re-entered the climate barrier of the Krystal Kingdom with the guys.

"You know? The air is getting awfully warm for the bowels of a snow capped mountain" I observed out loud.

"In my experience, something as atypical as that means that we're getting close to where we need to be" She replied with a strange sage like tone.

"Okay Obi-Wan, I'll take your word for it. Have blaster will travel after all" I referenced, by this point Daring had gotten used to my analogies so she didn't bother asking.

I instinctively knew that we were inevitably going to happen across something spectacular, but what we uncovered was something out of a journey to the center of the Earth movie. We both paused at the outlet of the tunnel to marvel at what we witnessed. An honest to God Amazon style rainforest that was absolutely flourishing inside the massive chasm underneath the mountain. Large cracks in the 'ceiling' allowed for a good amount of sunlight to penetrate into the impossible garden. The stone walls of the mountain acting like a provisional greenhouse; warming the surrounding air to conditions favorable to the gargantuan growths of lush evergreen trees and bushes that we were seeing, it was actually quite humid too. Even the soil was rich and loamy instead of the rocky gravel I was expecting.

I stood there next to Daring absolutely stupefied. How could such a thing even exist? Then the answer whacked me with the figurative force equal to that of a falling coconut; some serious magic was at play here. As if to further support my speculation, the faint sound of streams of water graced my ears. Large branching veins of water that varied in width coursed and inundated throughout the impossible rainforest much like the vascular system of a complex organism. Upon further inspection, the water didn't appear to be your average run of the mill Hydrogen Dioxide. It glittered and glistened regardless of whether or not it was reflecting the scant sunlight showering the jungle in concentrated spots. I was half tempted to drink from the stream out of curiosity, but I didn't know what effects that would have had on me; I was still very wary of mysterious magics.

I had only one thing to say to this elaborate work of entwining nature and magic.

"Surreal" I breathed with apt fascination.

"And I thought I had a gift for understatement" My partner gave me a grin, "We should keep on moving; don't want our Chalice thief to be granted immortality right?"

"Right" I nodded, and so we began navigating the thickets of the jungle with Daring occasionally stopping us to inspect any traces of our quarry that she could find. Tracks, crushed foliage, and other tells that alluded to the position of our Chalice thieves. The metaphorical breadcrumb trail was sparse but enough to point us in a general direction; give or take a few meters.

Despite the mesmerizing allure of such an unlikely occurrence, the forest was closer to being a façade in actuality. Other than the rushing streams of probable magic infused water, it was eerily quiet. There were no birds, no animals, or even insects inhabiting the bountiful boscage of trees and shrubs. It was offsetting enough to make me feel as if we were intruding upon something sacred and sacrosanct. I dropped the thought before it started to interfere with my better judgment; visceral fear is always a hindrance in my book. Although based on the looks from my partner's face, she felt much the same. I felt compelled to reassure her and keep us both focused on our task as we entered a long clearing.

"We're here with good intentions Daring, it's not like we're interfering with anything sanctified" I reasoned.

"I know that, but our 'mutual' friends don't share that principle do they?" She said with unease, "I feel as if this place is watching our every move and silently judging us, I've seen more than my fair share of bizarre jungles but this one is up there"

"We'll have to be on our best behavior then won't we?" I smirked in response.

"How is it that you can make light of every situation?" She inquired with utmost puzzlement.

"Must be my flippant personality" I laconically replied with a chuckle, getting a disbelieving scoff from her in return.

Daring looked like she was about to say something in response, but a trap net crudely consisting of vines triggered with a sudden snap and up reared us off of our feet. It wasn't a very large net either, intentionally meant for one person. So I was practically squashed upside down against my partner in a rather compromising position I must say.

'_Dude, you've never been closer to motor boating a girl in your life_' A prurient part of my brain took glee in pointing out.

'_I doubt she'd take kindly to that_' I strongly reminded myself.

Daring face was burning red by this point, whether in anger or embarrassment I could not tell. I couldn't really move away from my spot without rattling her cleavage so I stayed perfectly still.

'_Not that you're complaining of course_' The snippy side of my mind said.

'_Be that as it may, this isn't exactly how I'd envision it_' I snarked back to myself.

"Well well well, if it isn't the great Daring Do" A strongly accented voice proudly made itself known. Emerging from the brushwork was a large cloaked figure with a hood drawn over his face, along with two other brutish looking fellows. One of them had the black dotted skin of a leopard as a cowl while the other had the pristine white fur of a house cat?

'_I have my doubts about that one's masculinity_' Even in dangerous situations I had a penchant for seeing the absurdity in things.

"And what's this? An associate of yours perhaps? In such a bawdy adjoining no less! What company you keep with you, meddlesome tramp" He laughed a spiteful laugh, a grating noise most unpleasant. I haven't even known him for a minute and already I loathed this pathetic excuse of a scumbag.

"Ahuizotl" Daring spat out his name as if it were laced with venom, "Still the same trap happy psychopathic jackass" Her recalcitrant response seemed to visibly irk him, but he seemed to shrug it off before sneering at us.

"Ever the contemptuous rebel I see, your antics on the locomotive cost me my loyal Scratch and Growl. But it matters little; your defiance will be over by the end of this day" He slithered his way over before removing his hood and fully revealed his grotesque pointy face. His sickeningly yellow eyes glaring into ours with a misplaced sense of self superiority.

"Before I kill you however, I want you to bear witness my ultimate ascent to Godhood! You shall know true despair… and then I will let you die"

As he finished his sentence, he fished a hand out of a pocket in his navy blue yellow trim robe. In his palm was some kind of green sparkling dust, which he proceeded to blow into our faces. I immediately started to feel woozy, like I worked multiple twelve hour shifts without any sleep. I fought very hard to stay awake, a lethargic glance toward my companion revealed to me that she had already succumbed to its sleep inducing effects. I felt my eyelids slowly begin to drift downwards; I only managed to keep them at slit level through sheer force of will alone.

I barely heard the antagonistic Ahuizotl bark orders to his subordinates to cut us down, we fell to the thankfully soft ground with a light thud. I counted myself fortunate that I stifled a grunt of discomfort lest I alert them to my awareness. They proceeded to pick us up and carry us over their shoulders; I didn't even have the energy to make a snide mental comment that 'Kitten' as I decided to call him was rather gentle with his cargo. Daring however, was treated with the same courtesy as a sack of potatoes and was roughly manhandled by the Leopard skin wearing thug.

They carried us for either minutes or hours; it was very hard to tell the passage of time in my pseudo comatose like state. Whatever was in that dust also had hallucinogenic effects, colors warped and shifted and sounds were garbled and oddly echoed. That's to say nothing of the messed up sights I experienced in my delirious condition.

'_D..amn… bas..tards… dru..gged… m..e..too?_' I thought with the speed of a stuttering sloth.

I did my best to remember any kind of landmark we passed in case the knowledge would come in handy later, given how much of the jungle looked the same I almost felt it a wasted effort. But my patience (not that I had a choice) was rewarded when we crossed a medium width ravine rapids using the fallen trunk of a tree, which strangely enough was still alive based on the vegetation growing on it; I noticed the most mundane things in my new state of awareness. Our kidnappers didn't walk too much further after that, carrying us into yet another cave tunnel. This one was different though, the flow of water here sounded nearly torrential in strength. The atmosphere was lit by luminous green emerald like crystals that were bunched together into the walls and floor of the cave. There was also a deep resonating pulse in the air that reminded me of a heartbeat? I couldn't be too sure, under the influence of the drug powder and all.

Our captors then deposited us on the cold stone floor; 'Kitten' did it affably while Daring was dropped unceremoniously like a pile of bricks. They proceeded to tie us together with rope bindings that felt ambiguously like Nylon. Remembering an old hostage survival trick, I kept my forearms as spaced apart as I could while they wrapped them in the rope. I tried my best to be discreet so they wouldn't notice; regardless I had to give them credit since they still tied a mean knot. I sluggishly tested my bonds to see if my little trick paid off, turns out it did; I had enough leeway that I could move my hands around with some invaluable freedom.

"Wake our hapless guests" Ahuizotl impatiently commanded.

His lackeys then took the liberty of dousing us with absolutely chilling water from their flasks, causing the both of us gasp and sputter reflexively and in indignation. I certainly felt awake now! I was cognitively dreading whether or not they poured any of that enigmatic magical water on us. But since the sheen of water soaking our clothes and skin did not shine to an overly obnoxious degree, I could safely surmise that we weren't. However the quality of the water spilled on us was proving to be the least of our immediate concerns. I quietly bemoaned our negative situation; we were literally tied up at the moment, our captors were doubtlessly going to try and kill us, Daring's arch nemesis was close to his goal of immortality and fathomless power, and to top it off our current main villain had a pike nose bigger than that of Adrien Brody.

'_Okay focus on the positives boyo, they haven't bothered to confiscate your trump cards yet. You have just enough wriggle room that you can still reach for your Tantō, Daring is awake and pissed as all hell given how furiously she's struggling right now, if you can successfully reach your knife and cut the bonds then you can grab the stun and smoke grenades and use them to surprise your oblivious opponents . Either they're blind or some of the worst hired muscle in the history of flunkeys_' I finished with some slight critic mentality.

"How nice of you to join me in my hour of ultimate transcendence" Ahuizotl modestly stated, "I have been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this, the taste of my inevitably rise to power made even sweeter by my most troublesome adversary being delivered into my hands for final judgment"

He hadn't even drunk of the water yet and he was giving us the 'All powerful' monologue. I would've rolled my eyes in annoyance had I not been so busy secretly reaching for my blade. Daring compounded the problem by continuing to struggle fruitlessly, guess she wasn't the escape artist that Houdini was.

"Daring! Stop struggling, you're making our chances of escape even slimmer!" I harshly (yet stealthily) whispered to her.

"And just what are you doing to help!?" She harshly whispered back.

"Just sit still and let me handle this, I've got them right where we want them" I confidently declared. Despite mutters of resentment, Daring complied amiably and resigned herself to sit still and glare daggers at our captors.

My previous statement was true since Ahuizotl was standing on a monticule in the cave near the shimmering water's edge a few meters away from us with his two subordinates standing to his sides paying half attention to us and the other half to their master while holding metallic crossbows in their possession. I made a small mental note that 'Kitten' had an almost imperceptible look of regret on his face, as though he knew what he was doing was wrong but wouldn't apostate himself out of some kind of misplaced principle of loyalty.

Disregarding that however, I writhed and squirmed in my bindings. Further freeing my hands so I could grasp the handle of my Tantō. With my left hand I eased the knife out of its smooth wooden scabbard, carefully running my fingers along the flat of the blade to avoid cutting myself. I twirled it in my fingers and began running it back and forth against my nylon chains. Slowly but steadily the rope began to unravel as I cut into it. I was relieved that Daring didn't continue to keep struggling since I could accidentally cut her while trying to unleash us from our predicament. I originally wanted to blitz our detainers to buy enough time for Daring to escape untouched but I immediately recognized two things wrong with that idea, we came for the Chalice come hell or high water, and Daring was much too headstrong to retreat after coming this far. So I instantly threw that plan into the rubbish bin, I decided to let Daring in on my little plan as I grew closer to releasing us.

"Psst! Dee Dee! Want to be let in on a little secret?" You could practically hear the grin in my voice.

"About time you decided to tell me! Yes I do wanna know!" She responded.

"I'm just about free of this infernal knot, and then I'm gonna free you. Before you go rushing headlong at them, I'm going to stun them using the same trick I took the feral snow dragon down with. However, I'll give you the means to cover our escape in the form of a smoke grenade. Okay?" I asked.

"Sounds as good as any plan I could have come up with" She said with a tone of approval.

"Good, because I'm free now" I sliced through the last threads keeping my arms bound together. To avoid rousing attention, I kept facing our opponents and their leader who was _still_ monologuing and dedicated myself to setting Daring free.

"I originally was going to contrive something diabolical that would slowly yet surely seal your doom, but since you have an irritating tendency to subvert all attempts at killing you with some style, we're just going to attach a weight to you and toss you both into the water. What better way to kill two pesky rats than by drowning them? Of course, the codex says that the Chalice of Sombra grants both power and immortality but as long as one is immersed in the aqua vitae they are effectively everlasting" He began to chuckle darkly, "Oh wouldn't that be fitting, an eternity of drowning without ever being able to die! This day gets better and better!"

His hideous chuckle became joyous laughter, believing his vengeance to have become that much sweeter; well not if I had anything to say about it. I felt Daring start to hyperventilate as he said that; was she aqua-phobic? Never the less, I wrapped a free hand around her arm in a comforting fashion before crooking my head towards her and gave her reassuring wink. It had the desired effect and Daring visibly perked up, I needed her to keep absolute focus if this was to succeed.

"Your death traps never were any good at holding me" Daring snidely remarked, ending Ahuizotl's laughter and replacing his mirth with anger.

"Yes… well perhaps if you stayed in them long enough to actually die, I wouldn't have to repeatedly formulate interesting ways to kill you would I?" He spat rhetorically, before resuming his off settling smile.

"As I said before, it matters not. I shall rise to Godhood, and you and your misfortunate companion shall fall" He pompously stated, just as I finished freeing Daring from the roping.

He then began to reach into his robe and pull out the Crystal Chalice; it was quite a beautiful thing actually, it was carved out of a rich rose color gemstone and inlaid with ovular delectable orange carnelian stones alongside with sterling silver rimming. Ahuizotl then started to silently chant something that had a menacing and evil undertone to it and the Chalice took on that familiar shadowy, almost smoke like aura and floated down to the water's edge before proceeding to dip itself into the water and scoop out a generous portion of eternal life giving liquid. We had to act quickly lest our job become that much more difficult, the upside was that his henchmen were busy gazing in awe at the display to pay significant attention to us.

"Okay Dee Dee, here's the smoke grenade. To activate it just pull the 'O' shaped ring and toss it, this thing will spew out a whole lotta smoke so it should conceal our escape well enough that we don't get automatically pegged in the back with cross bolts. Wouldn't want to take an arrow in your other shoulder would you?" I grinned at her jestingly; she took it in stride and grinned back.

"You never cease to surprise me in the strangest ways Zenith" She spoke with a mystified tone as she took in my canister shaped ace in the hole.

"Yeah well I'm one of kind" I wholeheartedly replied with a shrug, "Let's just stop this madman once and for all. Oh and before I forget, I'll need you to cover your eyes and ears and look away for a few seconds" She looked confused but followed my instructions regardless.

Ahuizotl took the Chalice and held it like a socialite would retain a highball. Before he drank of it though, he couldn't resist gloating once last time; it would prove to be his greatest undoing.

"Any last words before I gain ultimate power and we send you down the rrriver so to speak?" He said as he swirled the water in the cup with his index finger.

'_Ugh, the way this guy rolls his R's makes me wanna shank him in the throat… wait. That's exactly what I'm going to do!_' I grinned ferociously.

I primed my flash bang before rolling right between the power mad aristocrat and his goons. I then took my own advice and covered both my eyes and ears, waiting for the inevitable disorientating explosion of light and noise. It came alright, louder and brighter than ever since I didn't have the luxury of cover behind a rock this time. Still, I sprang to my feet and charged forward with my Tantō in hand. I steamrolled past Ahuizotl's hunched over dazed bodyguards who dropped their weapons to clutch their faces, before impaling him straight through his neck far cry style. Blood spurted like a leaky valve out both ends as his shrunken pupil eyes widened further in surprise before closing lifelessly, his death gurgle cut off quite literally by my blade obstructing his wind pipe. The legendary cup falling to the floor with a clatter, spilling it's fabled contents all over the rough ground of the cave.

"How about yippee ki yay mother f*cker!?" I growled, disgusted by this power lusting abominable excuse for a man. I then took the liberty of Spartan kicking him into the pool of immortal life granting water below. His body fell with a splash before sinking to the bottom without further adieu. The patch of water his body disturbed then took on a sinister black tint, as if the body was most pestilent.

'_Looks like I just poisoned the water hole_' I drily observed.

Of course once the contamination of the water was complete, the entire cave started to rumble and shake as if it were in the process of collapsing. A fissure in the Earth opened up and in a most inconvenient fashion; the Chalice rolled its way into the abyss.

"No! We did not come this far to fail now!" Daring; who apparently recovered from the stunning effects of the flash bang, threw herself after the grievous grail. She slid over the edge before keeping one handhold on the ledge; I rushed over to pull her back up. The Chalice landed on a shelf just below Daring's reach, if she continued to extend herself she could fall to oblivion. A portion in the back of my mind drew some parallels between this and a certain trilogy ending movie and sought to remind me of this.

"Daring!" She didn't notice me shouting at her, only when her hand slipped and I grabbed it did she turn back, "Daring…. Let it go"

And like the words were magic, Daring reached up to grab my arm with both hands. I hoisted her up with haste since the cave was still collapsing around us. Once she was back on her feet safely, I glanced back at the Chalice. The smartest choice would have been to leave it there, but I vowed that I would fetch it for her Royal highness back in the Krystal Kingdom. The gap was quite narrow, even with my ethereal wings it would have been a tight fit and time wasn't exactly on my side.

'_Oh what I wouldn't give to have some kinda telekinesis right now!_' I thought regrettably.

Then the oddest thing happened, an aura of bright red surrounded the Chalice and floated it right into my open hand. I would have spent the next few second dumbstruck were it not for an alarmingly large stalactite spearing the ground right next to me. I got off my knees and made for the exit, a screen of thick gray smoke beginning to fully veil it. I sprinted through it with my prize safely stowed away and took to the air of the gargantuan forest micro biome. Hoping to spot my companion underneath all of the vegetation was a fool's errand, so I made for one of the clearings and prayed that she'd think along the same lines. Either the universe was finally cutting me a break from all the boons it granted me or I was just plain fortunate because no sooner than I landed did Daring burst out of the brushwork and straight into me. Because of my stalwart positioning and Daring's lighter frame, I cushioned the blow from her momentum with an embrace. She looked slightly happy to see me but she was also acting frantic.

"Something the matter?" I asked with a droll expression.

To answer my question, two cross bolts screeched past me and burrowed into the bark of a nearby tree trunk. I can't believe I already forgot about the other two! They emerged from the bushed looking quite enraged; or at least the leopard guy did, 'Kitten' had an indecisive look on his face. They were reloading their crossbows on the move but it still bought us time to beat a quick retreat, there wasn't really a path to follow but I reminded myself of the fallen tree acting as a bridge over the rapid flowing waters below as we dodged both obstacles and arrows.

As fate would have it, the sound of rushing waters graced our ears about two minutes after I joined the running of the Daring. I gesticulated towards the bridge to Daring, who caught the hint and followed my lead this time. I saw her reach into her messenger pack and pull out one of the dynamite rods she collected earlier before pulling out what looked like a primitive lighter composed of flint and steel and triggered the mechanism. Using its sparks she lit the boom stick and as we were rushing over the fallen tree, dropped it into one of the hollows with a mischievous grin on her face. Our tailing aggressors had no idea what hit them as the wood beneath their feet erupted. The blast consumed the leopard guy and sent 'Kitten' hurdling into the deluge below. Despite the fact that they both tried to kill us (Or at least I think so, Kitten's shots always went wide) I hoped he was at least spared a gruesome fate for being the one genial and benign thug of the bunch.

Seeing as we were no longer being pursued, we both used that moment for a breather. I recollected everything I've experienced since waking today and starting snickering like it was something out of a really badly written story.

"What's so funny? We risked life and limb and were denied the prize!" Daring asked irksomely, rather frustrated with what she perceived as a failure.

"Au contraire mon cheri" I snorted in my best stereotyping accent, "I have the prize right here" I held out the Chalice for her to see, her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at me in disbelief.

"B-but how?" She stuttered.

"My natural charm acts as a magnet for enigmatic chalices" I suggested with a wag of my brow, "That and I'd rather risk the injury than deal with dreadful paperwork" I shuddered; paperwork was the real villain here, its evil schemes to torture me have been foiled this day!

Daring threw her hands up in supreme exasperation and whined in frustration.

"You know something? I've given up trying to understand you. You're about as expressive as a statue one moment, then the next you're extremely eccentric, you're about as capable looking as a cute puppy, yet you're able to keep pace with me! A veteran adventurer! You're just weird" She lamely finished as she ended her rant.

I puffed out my chest with self-admiration, "Why thank you, I pride myself on being unique" Eliciting a hopeless groan in response.

"Do you really think of me as a cute puppy?" I added as an afterthought, getting a small blush out of her.

"W-what? I never said anything of the like!" She deflected while looking away awkwardly.

'_Riiggghhtt…_'

I pressed no further, not wanting to agitate her any longer. We trekked our way out of the jungle and back toward the cave we exited from hardly an hour ago. We made our trip in silence, Daring apparently was quite flustered from earlier and didn't wish to speak on the subject at all. And I was perfectly alright with that, contented to just enjoy the silence that had descended upon this crazy morning. We drew closer to the exit of the cave out of the mountain when were heard the cocking sound of a crossbow behind us, whipping around we saw the drenched form of 'Kitten' unsteadily holding his weapon pointed at us. I half expected something like this to happen so I blocked Daring with an outstretched arm. Something about my gaze must have spoken volumes because the man looked even more indecisive than ever. I used that lull to speak my peace.

"Your master is vanquished and his endeavors fruitless. I know that deep down you were well aware that what he was doing was unnatural and wrong. But for whatever reason be it loyalty, contract principle, or fear of retribution he can no longer threaten anyone anymore. If you wish to start righting some of his wrongs, you can come with us back to the Kingdom. I promise that I will speak on your behalf with the highest authority there to insure that you get some leniency or maybe even amnesty under the clause that your hands were tied (so to speak)" I reasoned with him, but I was also going to remind him of the consequences should he choose otherwise.

"However…" At this my tone became colder than the void of space, "If you decide to stay the path of evil and attack us, you will fail, you will die here, and your story will have ended on a flat note with no one, save us to remember your last deeds as a human being. Make your choice" He visibly flinched at that, his already shaking hands wobbled violently before dropping the vile weapon altogether. Hitting the ground with a clattering noise. His hands fell by his sides and he looked at the floor much like a child would when they've been caught doing something wrong.

"I don't want to continue doing this anymore" He spoke with a voice as light as a whisper.

"You don't have to. What's your name?" I can't keep calling him Kitten after all.

"Jomar" It wasn't what I was expecting, but it could have been stranger.

"Well Jomar, how would like to start anew?" I asked, giving as pleasant a smile as I could.

He looked me in the eyes and I could see intense alleviation in them; "It would mean everything to me" I nodded in understanding.

"Splendid! Then let's ditch this place" I did a heel face and marched out of the cave, my companion was busy picking her jaw off of the floor. She eventually recovered and caught up to me.

"Are you crazy!? He's one of Ahuizotl's thugs! He could have killed us!" She admonished me.

"He had ample opportunity today, but he chose not to. Didn't you notice this?" I enquired of her.

"Yea? Since when?" She asked dubiously.

"Since the train fiasco, since we were tied up in the cave, and since he and the other guy chased us through the jungle" I listed mechanically.

"Wasn't he actually trying to kill us back then?" She said with doubt lacing every word. I had little doubt that her previous bad experiences with the Wild Cat mercenary group had left a biased impression of them on her.

"I pay attention to these things Daring, didn't you see the immense conflict going on behind those eyes? He internally knew that he was in the wrong line of work but couldn't exactly leave or his 'friends' would have done to him what they tried to do to us. Talk about being in between a rock and a hard place" I glanced behind to see the former merc trudging in the snow behind us. I didn't quite fully trust him, but if he was willing to see the error of his former ways and change for the better, then I was willing to give him that chance. I looked back at my partner and gave her a roguish smirk.

"At least you'll have a hell of a story for your publisher!" I chuckled.

Based on the upward twitch on her lips, she could at least agree with that sentiment.


	9. Chapter 9: Explanations & Capital Egress

Chapter 9: Explanations, Celebrations, and a Capital Egress

As expected, Daring remained untrusting of our recently joined 'acquaintance' Instead choosing to perpetually keep him within her line of sight with a hand placed firmly on her bullwhip. She had him pacing ahead of us with his hands shown at all times so he couldn't try and pull a fast one on us. I didn't even bother with persuading her that Jomar (Pronounced Ja-mar) as he said he was called, had decided to turn over a new leaf. Of course I wasn't a hundred percent convinced either, but I made no effort to antagonize him with visible signs of distrust. We faced a long and chilly walk through the wintered lands back to the site of the train wreck, one which I was content to remain silent and ruminate on a previous action that caused me a good deal of inner turmoil.

'_There's human blood on my hands now_' I glanced down at them, seeing the crimson stains of a slain enemy coating my skin in darkened splotches '_Granted he was a despicable disgrace to the male race…yet I still don't feel anything even remotely approaching remorse… in fact, I even feel vindicated. Why does that thought scare me? Have I truly become so jaded that I can just end a life and feel absolutely nothing except halfhearted afterthoughts?_'

I scowled plaintively. Perhaps I should cease bickering with myself over this, what's done is done. I did what I had to save myself and my trusted companion from a fate that could have been worse than death. In doing so, I also prevented a sociopathic madman from gaining an absurd amount of power along with eternal life in one fell stroke. I would not allow my own self-reflective nature to weigh me down in guilt over my apathetic emotional response to my actions, however questionable they seem. Daring; evidently wanting to break the silence, unwittingly exacerbated the issue with a question.

"When you said that Ahuizotl was vanquished earlier, what did you mean? That loud flashy device of yours drowned out everything for me except seeing the Chalice roll into that fissure. Still can't believe you got the Chalice instead of me" She murmured the last bit with some jealousy; but I was too busy coming up with a discursive answer for what I did to really make note of it.

"Let's just say that he won't be bothering you again on any of your future expeditions" I euphemistically replied, hiding my stained hands inside my jean pockets.

"You still haven't answered me fully, how did you subdue him? I'm never able to apprehend him because he keeps slipping away like the greasy snake he is" She derisively spoke, "He's always had this annoying tendency to come slithering back to haunt my next trip into the wild"

"I trached him Daring… he won't be coming back from that" I sardonically retorted.

"Oh.." Was all she had to say, no doubt contemplating having one less rival to deal with.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She then asked; her tone was irritatingly sympathetic.

"There's nothing to talk about" Was my brusque response; I didn't need someone to play me the thinly disguised pity card. Daring however was not one to simply let sleeping dogs lie.

"First time huh? I know it's not an easy feeling to cope with… but in the end it was either us or him" She ratiocinated with empathy.

"I get that Daring. I don't need to be told something I already made clear for myself" I concluded in a tone that indicated the end of this particular conversation.

"You seem awfully accepting of this" She remarked with some incredulity evident in her voice.

"I've had to accept a lot of things since arriving to this phantasmagorical land" I sagaciously stated, well aware of how many of my personal paradigms were pulverized like so many popped bubbles.

"Well if you ever need someone to confide in over this, then I'm your gal" She gave me a comforting smile.

"Preferably over a drink" She added with a good humored chuckle, I merely scoffed at her tippler and cavalier outlook.

"I'd be more than happy to buy you one, but I don't partake myself" I told her with a shake of my head.

"Is that a poorly disguised attempt at flirting I hear?" She jestingly poked at me.

Deciding to play along I wiggled my eyebrows at her, "Mayhaps it is, what say you to that my fair lady?" I tend to slip into Shakespearean verbiage when I'm attempting to be suave. Although based on the faint blush I'm seeing, this might be one of the few times that it was successful instead of overly histrionic.

"I'd say… that I would be more than delighted to imbibe by your coin, provided that you don't call me a lady" She playfully smirked at me.

I shrugged, "Fair enough"

I saw Jomar giving us strange looks in the peripherals of my vision, so I decided to bring him into the fold of the discussion.

"So feel free to tell us about yourself Jomar, we've still got a bit of a walking back to our destination"

I saw him hesitate momentarily before speaking in that strange accent of his.

"What would you like to know?"

"Well for starters… why do you wear that ghastly looking pelt?" I enquired.

He bristled up as if he were offended, "This ghastly pelt" he stated as he pulled at the furry lapels, "Represents my spirit animal, men of my homeland are preordained by the village shaman as either spirit warriors or otherwise"

"So your spirit animal was foretold as an ordinary feline housecat?" I asked with some confusion.

He visibly flustered at the emasculating implications, "My spirit animal symbolizes my versatility of uses as a warrior. The others could only be fearsome and ferocious, but I would not be so one sided; I organized our agendas and itineraries whenever we traveled, I cooked all of our meals, maintained our weapons, even convinced them to use stealth instead of violence in many of our employments! Mine was anything but ordinary!" His normally quiet voice had risen to near shouting levels by the end of his fulmination and his complexion was florid with indignation.

I held up my hands in a peaceful gesture, "Relax! I meant nothing by it, I was simply curious is all"

He suddenly looked ashamed at his outburst, looking away from us before speaking in hushed tones,

"Forgive my misdemeanor; it is not the first time I have believed my personal honor was besmirched for what I saw as arrogance instead of ignorance" He explained.

"Don't sweat it, misunderstandings happen" Was my downplaying response, Daring had tightened her grip on her whip when the man had his paroxysm and I didn't want to accidentally start up hostilities again.

"I still don't like this" Daring muttered to me, evidently displeased with our company.

"Would you rather we did to him what we did to his comrades?" I harshly whispered to her so Jomar would not overhear.

"Of course not! But this still makes me uncomfortable, Jomar might have been tame compared to the others but he's still part of the mercenary group that tried to kill me on several different occasions" She flicked her eyes in his direction for emphasis.

"Did he ever try to kill you directly?" I asked, raising my brow in inquisition.

"Well.." She hesitated, "Not exactly, but he didn't try to convince his buddies to hold back on me either"

"Would you try to dissuade someone from eliminating a threat to the guy who hired your mercenary services?" I reasoned, "I get that his group tried to kill you, but they've recently become deceased and their last member is willing to take a new lease on life. And I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt despite the fact that the Wild Cats tried to kill me too. If you don't share that sentiment then that's fine but don't antagonize him for it, you wouldn't be giving him much of a reason to keep his mind set on turning over a new leaf would you?" I gave her some time to mull that thought over.

As she did, I directed more of my inquiries at Jomar about his home and the culture of his people. He informed me to the best of his ability, pointing out that it had been a long time since he had seen his 'heartland' as he called it. Apparently the travel abroad life of a merc meant significant sojourns away from home. I was tempted to ask if he left any family behind but realized that even if the answer was yes I didn't want him to feel homesick, kind of like how I was feeling myself now that I brought it up.

'_Oh damn it! I just had to inadvertently remind myself of that_' I mentally chastised myself. This was not the time to yearn for the world I left behind, even if I had no say in the matter.

By now we had progressed far enough that the still smoking wreckage of the rail cars was visible on the horizon. Also in view were the men indubitably sent out to assess the situation, having arrived by handcars pulling a rudimentary passenger flatbed that carried the majority of their numbers; which were about a dozen in total. I cut my conversation with Jomar short and instructed him to stay within eyesight of Daring and allow me to talk with them beforehand. He looked apprehensive, no doubt fearing for his prospective health. I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him an earnest expression.

"I promised that I would vouch for you and my word is something I intend to keep, so dread not ol' chum" He looked confused at my choice of words but calmed down none the less; perhaps it was the careful enunciation of my proposal or the sincere truth in my eyes. Regardless, I set off towards the guards patrolling the area around the crash site. One of the patrols spotted me and called out to the others, once I got to within engaging distance they had four men armed with long spears surround me and delegated the rest of themselves to train their crossbow reticules on me.

"Halt! By their Royal Majesties' authority you are to state your name and reasons for interfering in in Royal Guard business or prepare to be subdued and prosecuted!" They droned in concert and in clearly rehearsed tones.

'_I do believe that I'm starting to dislike the overwhelming uniformity of the Royal Guard_' I drily thought to myself.

"I need to speak to your commanding officer regarding the hijacking and subsequent derailing of this individual train" I stated in a voice that implied that I would not be browbeaten in submissiveness. They looked like they were about to respond when a familiar looking man with ice blue irises and donning purple chest armor with yellow trim and a fancy looking waist cape stepped out from their ranks. He also had some pretty kick ass looking gauntlets too, but I digress.

"I am in command here, Prince Shining Armor of the Krystal Kingdom. You still haven't identified yourself yet, are you the one who disrupted my coaching of the Krystal athletic team and created a mountain's worth of paperwork for me to deal with?" He was glowering at me by the end of that sentence. I would too if our positions were reversed, to hell with paperwork… seriously man.

I put on a rebellious grin, "Is that anyway to address one of the people who prevented this type of catastrophe" I gestured to the debris strewn everywhere, "From happening to the grand city of the Krystal Kingdom a second time?"

"What do mean? Explain yourself!" He demanded.

"Let's just say her Royal Highness Princess Cadence dispatched my companion and me to retrieve and by extension foil the plans of the fiends who stole the Crystal Chalice" I elucidated.

He gave me an appraising and measured stare, "So you're the one Caddy spoke of, and where is your companion?" He asked.

'_Caddy? Is that his pet name for her? Real cute_' I humorously noted.

"Over that there yonder hill" I pointed out with a thumb and a skylit drawl. Because…why not? I disregarded the 'Who is this wacko?' looks I got from Princey for that remark.

Evidently Daring noticed my gesturing and took it as the signal to reveal herself and our 'Prisoner' for lack of a better word. Apparently she didn't take any chances with Jomar and bound his hands together with her bull whip. Despite the somewhat rough treatment he was getting, Jomar complied without any resistance. Maybe my words reassured him that he would be treated fairly, I would make it a point to make good on that guarantee. I turned back to the former Captain turned Prince who was motioning orders to his guards to evaluate and secure both of them.

"We brought back one of the culprits, he willingly surrendered himself and I expect him to be treated with leniency as such" I stated with an official tone.

The Prince scowled at my onerous terms, "That's not for you to decide" He gruffly replied.

"No it's not, that would be for the Princess to decide wouldn't it?" I reminded him, trying to keep the snide tone out of my response.

"Indeed it shall be, and you're going to be the one to explain to her how this fiasco managed to get so out of hand. I suggest getting comfy; it's a long haul back to the station via the handcars" He rallied the men under his command together with a sweeping motion of his hand in the air as my companions and I were ushered onto the passenger flat bed for the ride back into the Krystal Kingdom.

"Hey Zenith, wake up!" I felt someone poking the back of my head, rudely rousing me from my cat nap.

"Alright I'm awake I'm awake! Stop poking me!" I slapped the offending hand away and admonishingly stared at the person who had the gall to prod me awake.

"About time you got up, we've been here for five minutes!" Daring spoke without any guilt what so ever and oodles of impatience instead. I just rolled my eyes in annoyance and sat up in the mind boggling comfy bench style seat. Since hand cranked rail cars are obscenely slow, the travel back had taken three times as long as it normally would; so one could excuse me for utilizing that time for some shut eye. Either I was more beat from today's insane activities or the chairs were enchanted to be fatiguing.

'_I'm betting on the first, enchanting a chair for any reason kinda seems like a waste of magicks now that I think about it_'

The station was free of people, most likely because of the hijacking that occurred yesterday and the brightly colored wooden barricades encapsulating the station. So I was thankful there weren't any prying eyes on either myself or on Jomar, who was being escorted away by several guards. Shining Armor and a few soldiers that remained with their liege were to accompany us to the Citadel and doubtlessly to the Princess. I internally groaned, explaining to Cadence why a simple retrieval caused so much damage to public assets was going to be a real drag. And then there was my caretaker Crystal Clear who was probably worried sick in light of my preliminary meeting with the Princess having also occurred yesterday and I haven't returned since then.

'_Oh this day just keeps getting better and better!_' I groused to myself.

I was honestly expecting Shining Armor to be a little less reticent, not that I minded the silence since it gave me time to rehearse my recounting of the events that happened since I last spoke to the Princess; but it gave me the distinct feeling that he would protest vehemently to my reasonable request that Jomar be treated with fairness and dignity. My partner was oddly silent too, but for reasons that I could not possibly speculate on. Our little procession through the city did inevitably draw a few stares, but most people had the courtesy to keep to themselves and mind their own affairs.

As we reached the Citadel and began climbing those accursed stairs again, I started getting more anxious with each and every step. I mean I'm terrific at making my summaries short, succinct, and simple but I have the feeling that Cadence will want something more substantial. And I don't want to reveal everything in its entirety since I didn't even understand some of the things that happened.

'_I mean, how exactly did the Chalice levitate itself to me? And that Red aura surrounding it carries some significant implications that I'm not terribly comfortable with. Perhaps I'm overthinking it…. I hope_'

We passed by numerous Citadel staff going about their various duties; our group even passed by Indigo Jade who gave me a rather vivacious look, only for her to be swiftly spooked off by a particularly intimidating growl from Daring who simultaneously moved closer to me in response.

'_Don't know whether to be flattered or terrified of this new development_' I confoundedly mused to myself.

'Daring used growl! It's super effective!' My immature side unabashedly referenced.

'_Ha! Nice one brain_' I stifled a snort of amusement.

By now we had finally reached the throne room of the Crystalline Castle, with a rather placid looking Cadence awaiting us on the Royal chair. The hardened scowl on Shining Armor's face practically melted off of his face once his saw his beloved and was replaced with a joyous smile. An action which was mirrored by the Princess once she laid her eyes on him, she rose from the throne and rushed forward to embrace him. I politely turned away while they had their 'somewhat' public display of affection and elbowed Daring to catch her attention; "I told you so" I smugly chimed to her, making her roll her eyes in mild bemusement. A quick clearing of someone's throat broke us out of our banter.

"So.." The Princess let the pause hang in the air, "Perhaps you would like to explain the mass amounts of havoc created yesterday?" She sounded decidedly neutral; perhaps she was saving judgment until after the facts.

"Right, where do I start…?" I murmured to myself.

"The beginning would be nice" Shining snarked, only to be shushed by his wife for being rude.

I held my chin in my fingers in a classic thinker's pose, "Well, I'll retell what happened exactly after we last talked Princess. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll answer them to the best of my ability" She didn't look entirely pleased with my ambiguous phrasing but nodded in agreement anyway.

"I relayed the pass words to the guards at the bottom of the hidden staircase and Daring here had a field day with all of the historical goodies residing inside the repository room" The aforementioned woman scoffed at what she thought was a hyperbole from me, "I investigated the spot where the scuffle between your guards and the assailants took place-"

"Did you find out who was behind all of this treachery?" She promptly asked without lapsing into a forceful tone.

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, your palace staff must have left the crime scene untouched because I came across a page that was torn out from Sombra's secret codex that was probably left behind to taunt and intimidate those who came across it"

"And what did it say?" Shining asked, who was actually enveloped in my tale.

I took a moment to dredge up the memory from the depths of my mind, and spoke in a foreboding voice that would make any bard proud.

"It was prophetic in nature, and spoke of possible danger at a future juncture" I realized that I unintentionally rhymed that.

'_Oh no! I'm turning into Zecora!_' I shook myself out of the ridiculous notion and focused on the task at hand.

"If eternal life is what you seek; then prove your mettle to be more than meek

If your fears you cannot greet; then death you shall never cheat

Pass through the darkened doors to enlightenment; or else abandon your dreams of eternal entitlement

Those with pure intentions will succeed; those with greed should pay heed

This task can make the strongest break; the one from beyond, the very earth shake"

As I recalled this word by word, the last clause of the prophecy raised multiple alarms in my head. My arrival was already foretold! And by the likes of Sombra no less! From Cadence's wide eyed reaction, I had a hunch that she had a revelation of a similar nature. She recovered from her shock quickly though, with no one else noticing save for me.

"This is… unexpected, but please continue" She asked with a small hint of hesitation.

"Of course… remember those doorways you warned me about?" My carefree voice letting her guess the rest.

She gasped, "I told you to avoid those! They were left as insidious traps by Sombra to mentally torture any trespassers"

"Yes, well in this case they acted as real doorways to where we needed to go. Dee and I both chose a door and faced our inner most fears"

"Oh I imagine that must have been dreadful!" Cadence sympathized.

"The first two were rather mundane really… but the last one was absolutely gut wrenching" My gaze drifted off, staring outside at the denizens daintily going about their day below without a care in the world it seemed.

"He still hasn't told me about that one" Daring spoke with an almost accusatory tone, completely disregarding the fact that she wasn't open with me with what she saw either.

"Later" I sighed, the memory of that last obstacle was still painfully fresh.

"I won't press you to tell us about them, but what happened afterwards?" The Princess inquired, even the normally inexpressive guards were raptly engaged in my story and were stealthily leaning in to hear it better.

"After our ordeal with the trapdoors, we were led to another staircase heading upwards this time"

"Yes, stairs seem to be a common theme here" Cadence giggled.

'_Finally! Someone else besides me notices this!_' I mentally gushed with glee.

"Yes quite, anyhow Dee and I climbed them and reached the very top of this Citadel" I emphasized this by gesturing upwards.

"But that can only be reached by air! And there was no staircase leading there when I explored the Castle" Cadence remarked with confusion.

I shrugged, "Magic is as magic does, just plain weird like that" Receiving understanding nods from just about everyone in the room.

"Continuing onward and upwards, we reached the peak of this shimmering tower only to find another incarnation of the Crystal Heart just floating there serenely as if it were waiting for us the whole time"

"How can that be?" Cadence wore a perplexed expression, "To my knowledge there is only one Crystal Heart in existence"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, this one acted as a sort of shimmering lighthouse compass thingie showing us the direction where we needed to go. It may very well have been a projected facsimile, perhaps you can verify that for yourself after I finish recounting our most recent experiences" I eloquently reassured the Princess to which she nodded in appreciation. She seemed to be taking all this into account quite well, no hints of doubt or suspicion of any sort.

'_Perhaps people are more trusting here than what I'm used to_' I quietly mused.

"Let me guess, the same direction where the 3:10 to Yuema was scheduled to depart to?" Shining drily commented.

My brain stopped, '_Did I hear that correctly? Whatever, don't got time to ponder about the absurd amounts of cliché that I put up with, at least it ain't a horse pun_'

"The one and only…" I slowly confirmed, "Since we were on a short timetable, I nabbed Dee and we let gravity do its work. We made it groundside in record time"

"Recklessly" Daring grumbled behind me.

'_Oh she's one to talk?_'

"I'm sorry Dee, did I scare you?" I put on my troll worthy smile again, eliciting a chuckle out of everyone save for Daring who muttered a few choice expletives under her breath.

"There was an exceptionally vocal man voicing his grievances here yesterday, he said that one of you knocked over his grocer's cart?" Shining stated with an unamused tone.

Deciding that this was a good way to extend an olive branch for teasing Daring, I cut her off before she could admit to her slight blunder.

"Yeah, we were kinda in a rush with the train about to leave and everything. I can cover his losses if need be"

"Really… all one hundred and thirty bits worth of it?" Shining dubiously said.

I grabbed my _munny_ bag (That's what I'm calling it from now on) and assorted the bits required to 'pay the fine' as it were. I was glad that the coins here operated under a sort of RPG style system, with the insignias and symbols on the coins denominating their worth; singular bits were blank on both sides, coins worth ten had a unified Arcanian banner glistening with pride, and the hundred pieces had the personalized symbols of the Sun and Moon Princesses respectively depicted side by side in a sort of equalizing portrayal. So with some simple calculations I pulled out a hundred piece and three banner coins before promptly tossing them to Shining, who caught it with his azure telekinetic grip.

"Not many people I know that have that much coin so casually on hand like that" He commented offhand to himself.

"Those were some pricey cabbages, but I've got plenty to spare" I shrugged apathetically; money was never really something I valued more than it needed to be.

"Moving on, Daring and I reached the train station only for it to pull out of the station without us! Granted it was in the process of being hijacked, but still! The nerve of those rapscallions, thinking they could give us the slip!" I paused to recollect myself before I delved into further melodramatics.

"So we gave chase, leaping across the gap between station platform and the rear most rail car; sticking the landing with style I might add. My intrepid partner here had already pushed on ahead of me to confront the deviants with myself not far behind. That's when I first came into contact with the Wild Cat mercenaries-"

"So the troublemakers are finally revealed" Shining stated while crossing his arms to his chest.

"Indeed, they were a nasty bunch. Wielding razor sharp claw like gauntlets that one of them even had the chutzpah to set on fire before attacking me"

"How did you defend yourself? I don't see a weapon on you" Shining noted suspiciously.

'_Is he blind? It's the one strapped to my backside! Perhaps I should keep this newly discovered advantage to myself_' I quickly thought.

"I have my own ways of defending myself. Daring here also took them on using only her quick wits and lightning reflexes, it was quite something to behold" I complimented her ability, something that allowed her a self-satisfied grin to hang on her face.

"What can I say? You gotta think fast and move fast if you want to thrive in my line of work" She modestly boasted.

"And from what I saw on that locomotive, you are a prime example of that. Back to the story, I was assailed by one belligerent wearing the skin of a Lynx and wielding flaming claws of utter absurdity. We danced a little bit before he made a downward strike that I nimbly sidestepped. He got himself caught on one the crates and I use that moment to forcefully relieve him of his weapon via the leverage of an implement I used to defend myself, unfortunately that disarmed weapon manage to sail through the air and inconveniently land itself on a opened stack of TNT rods… you can probably assume the rest" I used the ensuing silence of my stunned audience to make an inquire of my own.

"I've been meaning to ask, what was dynamite doing on that train to begin with?" Shining shook himself out of his torpor to answer me.

"Yuema is a mining settlement to the northwest of here, that dynamite is what they use to pulverize the stubborn rocks keeping their precious metals entombed in the Earth. They won't be happy to know that their next shipment will be late… guess who won't be hearing the end of that?" He glared at me, only to be once again reprimanded by his wife for being thoughtless. She motioned for me to continue my retelling of the debacle.

"To avoid the fate of instant immolation, I ran like hell before the explosion took out the car and dislodged the others off of the tracks. I managed to get out in time, but the mook attacking me wasn't as quick. Still, I couldn't skedaddle fast enough to avoid the blast wave which sent me careening into one of the passenger car seats and subsequently myself into unconsciousness"

"Wow… even my first fray didn't have such explosive results" Daring said in an awestruck tone.

"Yeah? Well the Universe just _loves_ me!" I sarcastically retorted with the appropriate body language for extra emphasis. The amused smirks that my present company offered me didn't exactly counter that statement. I once more resumed where I left off, feeling somewhat miffed at the thick Schadenfreude that clung to the air.

"When I came to, I was disoriented and slumped over in one of the seats inside of a rail car that was dangling over a cliff suspended only by metal framework connections that threatened to fail at any moment. As I was regaining my bearings, I heard movement coming from below me. And that's when I saw Daring here clambering up the tattered rail cars like a Pro, she had just managed to get a handhold on the metal draft gear connecting the cars together when she started to lose her grip" For some reason there were sharp inhales of breath from my audience, despite the fact that the obvious ending to that particular tale was standing right next to me.

"I shimmied down as quickly as I could to aid her when she began to plummet. Yours truly took a leap of faith after her and caught her before we cratered into the rapidly approaching ground below, making good use of my wings to slow our descent to a standstill"

"Goodness! That must have been most distressful, but that was the worst of it yes?" The Princess asked with a nervous look, as if fearing that it would take a turn for the worse.

"Not just yet, the rail car that we previously inhabited used that moment to engulf us in its metallic maw. If the doors hadn't been open on both ends, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now" I nonchalantly remarked to the confusion of my listeners.

"How is it that you can be so casual about nearly meeting your end? Most men would have fallen to their knees and thanked the Royal sisters for their unexpected salvation" Shining spoke with justifiable vexation.

"The reason I can be so casual about such things is because if it's not my time then it's not my time. I won't bother with that kind of paralyzing fear because it more often than not prevents you from doing what's necessary to live another day. And secondly, there is only one being that would ever make me fall to my knees in eternal gratitude"

"And who would that be? Everybody knows that the Princesses are the most powerful beings on this planet, save for that chaotic cretin Discord" Shining mentioned with visible disdain at the end.

"That's not something I'm obliged to share with you. And there's more to majestic glory than power alone" Was my dismissive response, my intimate beliefs are just that to me; sacrosanct and intensely personal. The Royal Prince looked annoyed at my deflection but didn't press for an answer after another pointed look from his wife.

'_I almost feel sorry for him; he's all but completely domesticated_'

"Back to where we left off, Daring and I had replanted ourselves on solid ground after our incident with the falling rail cars. We searched the area for the other brigands but found nothing but a set of three tracks leading towards one of the mountains. We followed it to an opening and settled down at the mouth of the cave for the night, having agreed that our quarry wouldn't have a choice but do the same with the poor lighting conditions" I decided to glaze over our heart to heart conversation, that was between Daring and I alone.

"At first light, we trekked further into the tunnel of the cave until we came across a stupendous marvel of nature and magic intertwined as one"

"What did you see?" One the guards unexpectedly asked, only to realize his faux pas and snap upright as Shining turned his gaze reproachful upon him. I resumed my exposition as to draw attention away from him and keep the metaphorical ball rolling.

'_I'm such a nice guy_'

"We saw an entire forest nestled deep within the bosom of the mountain, flowing streams of effulgent water coursing through it much like the veins inside our own bodies. The Sun's rays were piercing the stony veil of the mountain and seeping in via cracks in the ceiling, providing illumination for us and energy for the autotrophs"

"I didn't know you had a penchant for poetry Zenith! It's astonishing to know you have such profound hidden depths behind that stolid demeanor of yours" The Princess complimented, a delighted flicker in her irises as she said that.

"There certainly is more to him than first glance would suggest. I'm glad you paired us together your Highness, we're not a half bad team!" Daring enthusiastically agreed, the inflection lacing her words all but went unnoticed by me. Admiration perhaps? Or was there something more behind them?

I suddenly felt as if Cadence was scanning me with concentrated scrutiny. There was a strange gleam in her eyes as they flicked back and forth between us, the ghost of a smile tugging at her features. I would have written it off as a trick of the light but I'm pretty sure magic was somehow involved. Yet again, I feel unsure about the implications behind her actions. The distinct awareness that I had paused a tad too long forced me to put aside my thoughts on that subject and return to where I had once again left off.

"The forest was breathtaking and everything but we still had to track our Chalice thieves remember? So we set foot into the impossible jungle of trees and shrubbery. Despite all the verdant life, it was eerily silent since there was no ambient life to be found at all. The only noise to grace our ears was the trickling sound of the streams and the more forceful flow of the small rivers. All was going well until we suddenly sprung a hastily made trap net! We were practically immobilized (At least I was) and couldn't manage to free ourselves before the mastermind behind this nefarious scheme revealed his foul face"

"What was his name? I'd like to know who had the gall to heinously incapacitate my guard and embarrass the good name of the Krystal Kingdom!" Shining exclaimed with frustrated emotion, no doubt his safeguarding reputation took a hit with the recent happenings.

"His name was Ahuizotl, Daring's met him before. Said he was some rogue Highborn aristocrat from far off lands with ambitions of absolute power, hence why his latest plot was to steal that Chalice. Probably the closest he's ever been to achieving his wretched goal" Daring's grim nod served to confirm my assumption.

"He spouted a typical 'I win and there's nothing you can do to stop me' gloat before puffing some kinda powder in our faces that acted like a combination of barbiturate and hallucinogen"

"Wait… how'd you know that it was hallucinogenic if it was a sleep inducing powder? Whatever that powder was; it was industrial grade! I was out within five seconds of that!" Daring loudly declared, clearly wondering how I stayed awake long enough to figure that out.

"It wasn't easy, I felt more exhausted than I had in years. But I wouldn't give into the demand to shut my eyes. I needed to stay awake, and through sheer stubborn will… I did. It paid off too, remember the tree trunk that acted as a bridge across the water's gap?" I directed at Daring.

"I was wondering how you managed to find that avenue of escape first; you saw it and remembered it!"

"Certainly came in handy later huh?" I grinned roguishly.

"We'd never have shaken them off!" She vehemently agreed.

"Slow down please, you said that you were drugged first?" The Princess demurely interjected.

"Of course! Sorry for getting off track. So the belligerents and their sinister master took the both of us with them to some kind of enchanted spring. I swore that I felt a pulse not unlike a heartbeat resonating throughout the walls and the very air. They set us down on the floor and bound us together. Turns out Ahuizotl kept us alive and brought us there so we could witness his 'inevitable rise to power' and make us bask in the grief of our failure before tossing us into the water to drown. What they didn't count on was that I had posed myself in such a way as to allow some leeway for my hands; I reached for anything I could find to get us free. As fortune would have it, there was a rather jagged piece of flint just close enough for me to scoop up and start cutting away at the thin ropes tying us together"

The last part was a lie, but if they couldn't see my Tantō then what reason would I have to simply give that tidbit of vital information away? From the looks of things, they had bought it hook, line and sinker anyway. I'd never be able to pull off deception like that back home.

"So while our host so graciously bought me time to free ourselves by monologuing about his greatness nonstop, I let Daring (who was awake by this point) in on my plan to surprise our clueless opponents, I told her about some gadgets from home that I brought with me that would both stun our enemy and cover our escape"

"It's true your highness, he handed me something he called a smoke grenade. It was a canister that was filled with some sorta magic that created thick smoke, perfect for getaways!"

She turned to me, "Do you have any more of that stuff? I could really find a use for it on my future excursions!"

"All you have to do is ask nicely dear heart" My little sobriquet for Daring was not lost on Cadence, who grinned to herself in a knowing fashion.

'_Or so she's led herself to believe_' I cynically thought, unsure about my own feelings for the headstrong woman standing next to me.

"Once I freed the both of us, I blitzed them with my stunning canister before 'dispatching' the man about to drink from a filled Crystal Chalice" I paused momentarily, the action still weighed a little bit on my soul. I didn't care for the looks I was receiving either, horrid shock for the Princess, grim and understanding sympathy from the Prince, even the guards looked like they were surprise that I had it in me. Before the pity party started, I headed off any responses they might have had.

"As his body sunk to the bottom of the 'Well of Life' as I decided to call it, it took on a revolting black hue thicker than pen well ink and the whole of the cavern began to quake. The Chalice; which had fallen from Ahuizotl's grasp, began to roll into one of the fissures that were opening up in the Earth. Daring here dived after it but it was outside of her reach, I convinced her to let it go and get the hell out of there before it all came down over our heads"

I focused my attention on her, "Why did you listen to me anyway? You didn't really heed any words I had to say before" I incredulously stated.

"That was before you managed to save my bacon twice, that changes the way a girl acquiesces to someone's advice" She earnestly replied.

"Can't argue with that, I know I'd listen to what someone had to say if they saved my favorite breakfast food on not one but two occasions!" I guffawed, completely cracking myself up. Everyone just rolled their eyes at jesting antics.

"Yeah I get it, I'm a complete dork. But at least I find myself funny!" I said between chuckles of endless amusement.

"So the Chalice is lost then?" The Princess said forlornly, the Chalice must have meant something to her. Good thing we didn't lose it.

"Daring?" I raised my brow on cue.

"Nope, one Crystal Chalice as ordered!" Daring reached into her satchel and pulled out the ornate cup.

"But… how!? You told us that it rolled into a fissure!" The Princess exclaimed.

"Yes it did, I forgot to mention that it landed on a ledge just outside of arms reach. It was very narrow, but I had my wings remember? I just dropped down to it and used to wings to jump back up" Also not the complete truth, but what really happened was too unexpected to reveal just yet. Not until I had fully figured it out myself.

"After successfully retrieving the Chalice, Daring and I were pursued by the remaining two mercenaries who wielded crossbows. Daring lit some dynamite that she had acquired from the train wreck and planted it on the tree trunk that was acting as a bridge across one of the rivers. One of pursuers was completely engulfed by the blast and the other was thrown into the river below. As you can probably tell, he caught up with us later. I managed to convince him that further hostilities between us were pointless since his former employer was six feet underwater and his comrades were equally vanquished"

"Excellent use of reasoning to make an opponent lay down his arms. You'll have to pay for that dynamite rod by the way" He directed to Daring, who grumbled before pulling out some bits and handing them to him; meanwhile mumbling something that sounded like 'Cheap bastard'. It was enough to make me chortle in mirth before shutting up after a pointed look from Daring.

'_I'm starting to think Shining isn't the only domesticated one here_' My snarky side pointed out.

'_Shut up brain. I'm still wild and free!_' I shot back to myself.

"There's more to it than him simply laying down his arms unconditionally, I had also promised to speak on his behalf to you in order to possibly grant him some leniency"

"And what makes you think he is deserving of it?" Shining judiciously stated, his voice carrying a fair bit of requital to Jomar's plight.

"For one, he wasn't actually trying to kill us" I explained.

"I believe you said both he and the other who met his end at the bridge were both firing their crossbows at you?" He raised a cynical brow.

"He was… he was also purposely missing every shot. Furthermore, he himself told us that he was more of the mercenary group's coordinator than one of their muscle heads. From what I saw of him, I'm inclined to believe that there is some truth behind his words. But ultimately it's up to the Krystal Kingdom's _fair_ ruler to determine his fate" My vision was shifted to the Princess.

I put emphasize on the word fair so she'd feel guilty if she simply sentenced him to rot or be executed without giving him his due process… or what passes for it around here. I was starting to miss American civil rights already. From the looks of things, it certainly had the effect I intended.

"What would you have me do Zenith?" She pensively asked.

"That's not for me to decide your highness" I responded with all due respect.

"Well I want to see how you'd prosecute him, he was still with the group that terrorized my kingdom's populace and hijacked a multi thousand bit locomotive filled with precious cargo that you unintentionally proceeded to blow up"

'_Well when you put it that way_'

"Honestly your Highness? I'd put him under house arrest and adjust him to the Honest and Just Arcanian way of life and perhaps make him a law abiding citizen if he so chooses"

She then began to briefly think it over before giving me her decision, "It's a sound and evenhanded idea, one that I'm sure Auntie Celestia would approve of. Very well Zenith, uhm… pardon me but you didn't mention his name"

"Its Jomar" I answered.

"Jomar? How exotic... very well then, Jomar shall be put under watch until it is determined that he comprehends and accommodates the Arcanian way of Harmony into his life"

"Thank you your highness, your wisdom in this matter precedes only your immeasurable beauty" That elicited a blush from her highness and an intense scowl from her husband, a scowl shared by Daring as well.

'_What? Am I not allowed to speak truth here without consequence?_'

"You're too kind Zenith, and because you have returned that which I asked for, you shall henceforth be a citizen of Arcania itself. I have no doubts that you will uphold everything that the way of Harmony stands for. And thus our business here is concluded; now Shiny and I will have to attend to the Kingdom's most imminent affairs, which today would be personally evaluating the performance of the Krystal athletic team. It's not easy being Royalty you know!" She giggled the last part as she and her husband exited the room hand in hand to personally appraise their Kingdom's sport's team. Leaving my companion and myself in relative silence.

"Ya know something? That went at lot better than I thought it would" I remarked at the ease at which the situation presented itself, and then I remembered that I hadn't spoken with Crystal yet.

'_Crap!_'

The guards then led us out of the Citadel, telling me to stop by the Office of Consular matters for my official documents now that I was a newly made Arcanian before attending to their other duties. Daring saw it as an excuse to celebrate our recent successes by drinking ourselves silly at the local tavern. I reminded her that I didn't partake of any alcohol, but I'd be more than happy to finance her pursuit of getting smashed. Provided that I spoke with my caretaker first to let her know that I was alright.

"Aww…momma's boy has to ask for permission to play?" Daring playfully teased as we walked down the crystalline avenues.

"She's not my mom, though she excessively worries over me about as much" I clarified with a tired tone, having to explain to her a second time that I put myself in danger's way was going to suck.

"I'll have to catch you up later Dee, no offense or anything but it would be sort of awkward explaining what I did the last two days with you standing right there trying to look inconspicuous"

"Nah its cool, I have to square some things away on my end too. Meet up at the south fields in an hour?" She offered.

"Sounds good, I still have to buy you couple of drinks don't I?" I cheekily replied.

"Pfft, more than just a couple" She retorted back to me as we parted ways.

I made my way back to Crystal's home, passing by the friendly locals who seemed unperturbed from yesterday's excitement; perhaps they hadn't bore witness to it. Regardless, I was mulling over what I should say to Crystal that would excuse my absence. I had just about given up when an idea made its way to the forefront of my mind. I could just pin it on Royal business! It wasn't a complete lie and it would allow the details of my previous caper to remain undisclosed. It was both devious and cunning; knowing the people's reverence for their ruler's modus operandi probably meant no further questions asked of me by Crystal once I told her.

"_Hehehe…. Brilliant_"

I knocked on the door and waited patiently for a minute before the kindhearted woman opened it. Her eyes practically lit up once she saw me before briskly encompassing me in another bear hug. I was expecting exclamations of worry from her but she remained silent, perhaps she was just glad that I was safe. She ushered me inside without a word and poured both of ourselves a cup a tea that she was brewing in a kettle atop an iron stove. We sat down in her quaint living room to have what I'd hoped to be a simple and tension free conversation.

"I take it your meeting with the Princess went well?" She asked.

"Very… I apologize that I was away for so long. I was doing her majesty a favor you see"

"Yes, she informed me about it. Something about retrieving a stolen Chalice?" Her tone was difficult to decipher, a mix between frustration and begrudging acceptance.

'_Well, that plan just went out the _window' I sarcastically thought.

"Pretty much…and it mostly went off with a hitch"

"You put yourself in harm's way again didn't you" She sighed in discontent, it wasn't even a question.

"Yeah… that's been happening a lot lately hasn't it?" I humorously observed, though Crystal didn't share my mirth.

"I can't quite condone that Cadence would just compel you into doing such a perilous thing, but it's not my place to question her majesty's ethical integrity" She finished somewhat bitterly, perhaps absolute reverence for Royalty only goes so far here.

"She's been quite fair to me I assure you, even made me an Arcanian citizen via a Royal mandate in exchange for something she 'misplaced' in the hands of less than reputable people" I expounded upon.

"That's wonderful! But what are you going to do with it?" She curiously inquired.

"In all honesty I've been wanting to travel around a bit. No offense or anything but a cloistered place like this can cause a guy like me to go stir crazy within a week" I drank the last of the invigorating tea, it was lemony with a hint of spice.

"So you'll be leaving then…" She visibly sagged on the spot.

My turn to sigh in exasperation, "Yes Crystal that I am. But don't think that I'll be forgetting about you! I'll be sure to stay in touch via correspondence, perhaps I'll even tell you about how much the world has changed since this Kingdom has vanished"

She got up from her seat and embraced me once again, her tone sad but understanding, "I'll do my best to write back. Do you think you might come back someday?" She asked hopefully as she drew back from the hug.

I looked her in the eyes, "You can count on it!" I grinned reassuringly, and I entirely meant what I said; I owed her as much. By the relieved look I received, I assumed that she was placated enough by my words. Unfortunately I had to break the mood with a last request.

"Say… you don't mind if I use the shower one last time do you? One of the side effects of chasing after a stolen Chalice is that you tend to sully yourself in the process"

She laughed pleasantly before answering me, "Of course you can Zenith! I wouldn't want you to face the world in such a maculate condition after all"

"Thanks Crystal, you're the best" I honestly complemented.

I gave her my most sincere smile, which was only a slight curl of my lips since years of emotional stoicism have atrophied my ability to express myself facially. On the flipside, it makes what I do express all the more genuine. I politely excused myself to head upstairs to the room Crystal let me use to fetch some replacement clothes for the one's I all but shredded on my last adventure. An errant thought that crossed my mind made me pause and scan my surroundings; it looked like a generic room with no memorabilia or pictures of any kind. Come to think of it, the room was Spartan by all standards. I've spent enough time here to know that this was a two bedroom home, which meant that Crystal had put me up in what was probably her son's old room. I smacked my face with my hand, how did I only notice this now!? She probably removed everything that was a painful reminder of her lost son, and here I've been treating it like it was a motel room! The bed was still unmade and I left some of the dresser drawers open in my haste since I was last here. I set about rectifying the mess before I felt bad for defiling one of the last remaining memories of a perished child. Afterwards, I hopped into the shower to wash off the dirt and gravel I've accumulated within the past couple days and to make use of the lavatory since my bladder felt like it was close to critical failure.

Once my business in the bathroom was concluded, I dressed myself in another pair of jeans and a collared polo shirt with black and red pattering; which is one of my favorite color combinations.

'_Unfortunate that it's always associated with Gary Stu's, I liked it before I found it was considered a marker for hated grandiosity_'

I grabbed my stuff and debarked downstairs, I gave Crystal one last hug and told her that I'd do my best to stay safe regardless of whatever the universe decided to throw my way next. Her eyes were shimmery with tears that threatened to fall but she stayed strong; she told me that even though I've only been in her life for such a short time, she'd miss me greatly. I was touched that I've left a profound impression on her and made double certain to keep in touch. I departed for the Office of Consular matters to retrieve the documents for my newly acquired citizenship, they did make me do a tiny bit of paperwork; but it was just simply filling out some of the blanks for my new official identity. They seemed confounded by my listing of previous homestead as Southern California since they've never heard of such a place, even with their updated maps of the world. I gave them a cheeky grin and told them that they should try searching the nearest dimension; the looks they gave me were priceless. I was tempted to use my iPod's camera app to capture the Kodak moment but decided against it for obvious reasons.

Once that was good and finished I made my way to the south fields to meet up with Daring since an hour had passed. I was certainly not expecting to find what I did but was pleasantly intrigued nonetheless.

A wooden ship that looked more like it belonged on the waters was just hovering a few meters of the grassy ground, there was no gasbag keeping it suspended above the land. It was simply floating on its own; my mind was doing backflips just trying to confirm that I wasn't still hallucinating for the barbiturate dust. Four ducted fan blades jutted out from her lower hull on both sides. It wasn't a terribly large vessel, maybe sixty or so feet in length overall. It carried an armament as well, four swivel mounted hand cannons fore and aft. A thick rope ladder hung from her starboard side over the wooden railing and snaked down to the ground. I probably spent two minutes examining the entire airboat with my eyes.

"Impressive isn't she?" Came a familiar voice right next to me. I would have jumped out of my skin if I wasn't so busy comprehending the impossibility staring me right in the face.

"H-how is that thing being kept aloft?" The disbelief very much evident in my voice.

"Some magical tree's that only grow in certain areas of Arcania along with scant other countries are harvested for their special properties; its official name is Floatwood. It's fairly durable and can suspend its own weight and then some, in large quantities some very impressive vessels can be crafted with it. Although, since it's not exactly ubiquitous most sky ships are suspended via gas filled envelopes or ballonets" Daring lectured with an amused smirk.

My disbelief was replaced with childish joy, "That's awesome! What's the name of this fine looking ship?" I asked with a thumb pointed at it.

"I call her the _Magnificent Marauder_; she's quick as a whip thanks to the four multi-rotational turbo props mounted on her lower sides and maneuverable for that same reason. That ship has carried me to the odds and ends of this Earth and out in one piece. She's my pride and joy!" Daring proudly exclaimed, this vessel was clearly her baby and I could see why.

"That's so cool" I gushed… I tend to geek out over things like this.

"Enough about my ship, you still need to buy me a few drinks. Come on! Every good adventure leads to a tavern at some point!" " She grabbed me by the arm and led me to the nearest tavern.

"Can't argue with that logic, let's get going!" I enthusiastically agreed.

'_I'm probably going to watch you get drunk and make a complete ass of yourself, good thing I'm such a good designated drinking buddy_' I kept that thought to myself.

The name of the tavern was the Gemmed Tankard, it looked like your typical tavern, the wooden sign hanging over the door depicted a tilted draft beer studded with colorful gems, the windows had a stained glass mural style to them, and people who've had one too many stumbled outside sporadically. Inside was room enough for a good thirty people, strangely enough most of them were around my age group with a few older patrons sitting together at their respective tables and shooting the breeze with each other.

A three man band was providing ambience with what looked like a guitar, a piano, and a drum set on a small stage. They looked incredibly bored with the venue and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. Daring told me what to get while she saved us a spot and I shelled out some bits to the bartender, the alcohol was actually quite cheap too; only thirty bits for a seven strong row assortment of ales, ciders, and even hard liquors. I had him bring us the drinks on a large platter before taking off my pack and setting it next to my chair. I then spent the next few hours watching Daring pound them down whilst she regaled me of her previous exploits in wild and untamed lands. I had to hand it to her; Daring was only acting tipsy by her fourth drink. She kept trying to pressure me into having a swig or two but I politely declined, very thankful for my immunity to peer pressure. Still… watching Daring having such a good time while I sat there doing just about nothing was starting to get to me. I thought back to the band that was only slightly more zombie-ish than I felt at the moment and thought about how to put some more life into their gig. That was when I was struck by the strangest urge to take the stage and join them. I got up from my seat and made my way to them in what felt like an automatic motion. I stopped just short of the stage and asked them if I could join them for a spell. The one on the Piano looked at me apathetically before replying in a droll tone.

"Sure, knock em' dead"

I nodded and hopped up to the stage before asking the drummer to provide me a steady beat. By now a lot of people were staring at me and I felt a little bit self-conscious. What was I doing!? I'm not even a big fan of singing! But the strange sensation possessing me as the drummer laid down a steady string of drum taps encouraged me to continue with what I was doing.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I hope you don't mind but I'm going to sing you a popular song from home that I think you just might like"

Most of them were drunk so they were all for the idea as evidenced by the cheers. Taking a deep breath, I began to sing. Daring face lit up with the third line and she had this sappy smile on the whole time. Even though we were short a few instruments and a synthesizer, the music was somehow provided for anyway. This served to confirm an earlier theory I had about the magic of music being present in this land. The song had a definite influence on the audience; they even provided the chorus exactly when it was called for. The intense vocal harmony even brought the older folks into the fold, happily singing away as they lifted and clanked their tankards together in drunken reverie. The formally bored musicians suddenly looked like they were having the time of their lives, happily plonking away at their instruments in perfect synchronization. I'm not usually one for singing, but if everyone gets so involved in the music like that then I might not mind taking the stage every once in a while.

Sadly, the good times came to an end and I had to carry Daring back to her precious ship since she was too inebriated to do so herself. It was nighttime by now and the Kingdom was absolutely beautiful, the Citadel was radiating a glow that almost made it look like it was emitting a force field. Entrancing as it was for me, I had to focus on making sure Daring made it back to her levitating abode that was moored to the southern fields. The Crystal lampposts highlighting the way were a very nice touch.

"Thash song wers cashy" She slurred as she stumbled alongside me, she would have probably face planted by now if I wasn't there to support her weight the whole time.

"Given how well it the audience received it, I'd safely say they think the same" I agreed.

"How come.. *Hic* yuer shtill sober?" She asked between the most humorous hiccups.

"Probably because I abstained from guzzling the insane amount of intoxicants that you did" I responded with a chuckle.

"Oh yea.. yuer the wurst drinking buddy evar!" She exclaimed, though I could tell that she didn't really mean it.

"That may be, but I'm the best designated 'carry you back so you don't end up looking like a fool' pal ever" I boasted in response.

"I feel liek I ken take on anythen!" She proclaimed loud enough to attract the attention of several passerbys.

"Eeyup, you're drunk" I observed, content with stating the obvious.

"And yuer shexy!" She declared before brazenly going in for a drunken kiss, since I wasn't expecting it she somehow landed it spot on despite her intoxicated mindset. Several different flavors ranging from bitter to savory assaulted my taste buds as she pressed her lips against mine, her eyes closed and an expression of absolute felicity on her face. I must have had the deer caught in headlights look for the first few seconds but I didn't pull away. When Daring broke the kiss, she acted like nothing had happened while continuing on with her drunken outbursts. I shook my head, speechless; this was turning out to be an interesting night indeed.

We came within sight range of the _Magnificent Marauder_ soon enough. It must have had some kind of automatic lighting system because what looked like high intensity Gemstone lanterns lit up the top deck of the ship quite nicely. The rope ladder was still lazily hanging down its right side, but that would be inadequate since Daring was wholly buzzed at the moment. I huffed to myself for having to play the role of gentleman once more and swept Daring off her feet (Who let out the most endearing surprised squeak) before summoning my wings and using them to upsurge myself to the floor of the deck and deposit the inebriated woman back on her toes. The sudden change of motion had her wobbling a bit more than usual, but she reined in her balance with my timely assistance.

"Well Daring it's been great, but I think it's time we call it a night" I turned around to hop off the deck but a hand grabbing my arm stopped me, I turned to see Daring with a nervous expression on her face; like she had something to say but was afraid.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" She asked, suddenly sounding more sober.

"Like… how long?" I dubiously inquired; I had a suspicion as to what she was really implying with her question.

"Until morning?" She gave me this small hopeful smile. I couldn't say no to that face without feeling like a complete jackass, so I reluctantly gave my consent.

"Okay then, where will I sleep tonight?" She looked like she was about to say something but paused as if changing her mind.

"I have a few bunk compartments that you can use, it's not the roomiest but it's cozy. It's below deck, I'll just… head for my quarters" She looked a little less enthusiastic as she excused herself to the stern cabin. What did she really want to say? I put the thought aside and made my way below, a narrow corridor with doors on each side greeting me. I picked the closest one on my right and entered it; a tiny room about eight feet by six is what awaited me. A small bed barely large enough for me and a chest at the foot of the bed were all the furnishings available, along with a modest window port that didn't offer much of a view since it was dark.

'_Daring wasn't kidding when she said it wasn't very roomy!_'

I was too tired to really care though, so with a weary sigh I tossed my belongings (gently of course) into the chest before flopping onto the bunk for some well-deserved rest.

I woke the next morning feeling very refreshed and ready to explore everyplace I could possibly go. I rose from my indention in the bunk and made my way topside so I could stretch without fear of bumping into something. I wasn't entirely certain of how long I slept, but since I had no pressing concerns I deduced that it was probably to within of few hours of noon. I found Daring standing on the forecastle of her marvelous vessel, when she heard my footsteps she turned around to flash me a winning smile.

"G'morning" I greeted.

"Sure is, great conditions for sailing too!" She remarked.

"Isn't that just inside of the climate barrier?" I asked.

"Nah, I took the liberty of checking about thirty minutes ago" She explained with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"You sound pretty lively today, no hangovers at all?" I asked, quite confused at how spirited she was after how much alcohol she consumed the night before.

"I keep a few vials of rejuvenation to keep the hangovers at bay, or when I need a boost of energy" She demonstrated by pulling out a small glass ampul filled with a grassy green fluid and twirling it in her fingers.

"I see…So what's next for you?" I inquired, letting curiosity get the better of me.

"I'm heading back to the Capital city to personally report my success to the institute regarding their assignment to retrieve the Crystal Chalice. How bout' you?" She returned the question.

"I was thinking about traveling around a bit, getting the lay of the land you can say. Although I have wanted to visit Canter… err Concordia for a while now" I almost slipped, that would have been embarrassing!

"Well I could give you a lift there, it's the least I can do" She modestly offered.

"You would? That's great! The guys at Consular affairs office said the train system here would be down for a few days, but if I don't have to wait for it to be restored to service then that's just peaches. Thank You!" I happily exclaimed.

"Yeah…I'm a giver. Well since that's agreed upon, let's go!"

She made her way to the quarterdeck, where an honest to goodness ship's wheel with wooden spokes patiently awaited me once I joined her. Since this ship didn't have rudders of any kind, the wheel directed the four rotating propeller blades below. It wasn't your typical helm setup either, since the ship could move in three dimensions instead of two; the wheel could be pulled back and forward to control its pitch in the air. There was a curious slot in the middle of the steering wheel that I was going to ask Daring about when she pulled a quatrefoil shaped piece of metal and inserted it into the wheel. All four fan blades below came to life with a mighty roar before Daring pulled the wheel back and the _Magnificent Marauder_ shot into the sky like a coiled spring. We zoomed past the barrier and into the chilled morning sky above as we made a heading southbound toward the Arcanian Royal Capital City of Concordia.

'_Huh… so they do have ignition keys here_' Was all I could think of as my mind was overloaded with the tremendous amounts of awesomeness.


	10. Chapter 10: Welcome to Concordia

Chapter 10: Welcome to Concordia

I stood facing the bow on top of the forecastle, drinking in the sights given to me and rendered in stunning clarity and definition with my Valkyrian eyes. The snowy landscape of the frozen north quite literally melting away into a vista consisting of grassy plains, scattered farmlands, lush mountains and clustered villages. Since this ship had its own propulsion system, there was no need for any masts or sails; which meant greater visibility all around the vessel. Bizarrely enough, there wasn't an excess amount of wind sweeping over the deck; just what felt like a light breeze.

We we're really hauling it too, a little over forty or so knots every hour. At this pace, we were bound to reach the Capital city within hours instead of the usual business day that it took via the train. The train couldn't offer marvelous views like this either, all I was missing was a lawn chair and some snacks and the passing sights would have sufficed as an in-flight movie. As it was, I just leaned on the wooden banister of the railing lining the ship and popped in my ear buds before equipping my iPod and selecting a playlist of upbeat yet soothing sounds just perfect for this.

Forty five or so minutes in, I was shaken out of my trance like state by a hand grabbing me by the shoulder. I paused my IPod and turned around to address Daring… who was not at the wheel. I saw a questioning look in her eye but I cut it off with my inquiry first.

"Aren't you supposed to piloting this thing?"

"Don't sweat it; I have it set on the coordinates for Concordia" She replied with a dismissive tone.

"This ship has auto pilot? And here I thought I reached my quota of unexpected wonders for today" I dryly remarked.

"Then you're in for a real treat once we reach the city, it never gets any less spectacular" She said with an amused smirk adorning her face.

"Doubt it can hold a candle to Coruscant" I muttered to myself, doubtful to the last part of that statement.

"What was that?" She asked, hearing me.

"Nothing, I'm just dubious about the hype surrounding this city. This supposed 'Crown Jewel of Arcania' has to be something special to deserve such a title"

"You'll find out for yourself soon enough. In the meantime though… can we talk?" She asked pensively.

"We're talking right now" Was my snarky response.

"You know what I mean" She replied with a roll of her eyes.

I motioned to the portion of wooden railing next to me and she leaned against it much like I was. We stood together in silence before Daring began her colloquy.

"So being the relic hunter I am, naturally I'm a curious person. And it's been eating at me to know just what you saw back in the Citadel depths. With the last door Ya'know?"

I was less bitter than the last time she asked me what I saw, but I wasn't going to reveal it without a proper exchange first.

"Quid Pro Quo" I chirped, looking her dead in the eye.

"Huh?" She stared back in confusion.

"Old language saying that basically means 'This for that'. You tell me what you saw going into Sombra's trap doors since you haven't been forthcoming yourself, and then I'll tell you what my last experience with those thrice damned doors was"

She grumbled to herself for a moment before giving in.

"Fine… the first door led me into some kinda stony corridor that reminded me a lot of the multiple jungle temples I've explored. As you can expect, I inspected it for the usual sudden death inducing traps but I couldn't find a blasted thing. The door out was on the other side of the corridor and felt like it was within jogging distance, only the problem was that it never got any closer no matter how far I ran. That was when I heard a loud rumble and a wall absolutely bristling with spikes started closing in on me a little too fast for comfort"

"So how'd you get out of that one?" I asked, drawn in by the scenario.

"By running like a spiked wall was chasing me" She laconically responded, "There was a freakin gap separating me from the door too, which was suddenly close enough to see the shine on the handle but not close enough to reach. I used my whip to wrap around a portion of stone wall jutting out and swung across the gap, I didn't even bother opening the door normally; instead I barged right on through"

"What'd you see afterwards?" I inquired.

She gave a frustrated huff, "Don't see how it's fair that I tell you everything I saw and you only tell me one thing in return"

"I gave you the first two for free back on the stairway, this is perfectly fair" I retorted.

"Whatever… so the second door had me at this high society party function back in Concordia"

"What? That doesn't sound bad at all" I ejected with some aporia.

She gave me this incredulous look, "Have you ever been to one of those things? Boring as all hell, countless snobs trying to suck up to even snobbier smucks, the Hors d'oeuvre are tiny and tasteless, the music is alright but a little too high strung for me. But that's not what made it annoying, what made it annoying was that I was completely naked"

I had to stifle an amused snort with Herculean effort, one hundred percent sure that I'd be doing a spit take right now if I had been drinking. This should be interesting to hear about.

"Didn't know it was one of those parties" I humorously said while looking away to keep Daring from seeing my amusedly contorted features. I got another slug in the shoulder anyway.

"Not like that you perve! My usual outfit and gear were gone! Instead I was dressed in one of those frilly fru fru dresses, I looked completely ridiculous!"

"You're afraid of attending a high society party dressed like one of the snobs?" I raised a skeptical brow.

"Of course not! I'd just hate myself for it, damn shindig didn't even have any alcohol to drown away the indignity with" She bitterly replied.

"Go on, surely that wasn't last tribulation you endured"

"No it wasn't, I almost ripped the door off of its hinges once I found it. It... led somewhere a little more terrifying" She hesitantly concluded.

"And where was that?" I asked as I shuffled myself on the banister.

"The bottom of the ocean, the dark depths below about to swallow me up like an insatiable void. I couldn't breathe… I tried swimming to the surface but I couldn't reach it in time. My vision started to darken, my body was beginning to lose sensation, and my lungs were about to give out. I felt like the hands of death were closing in on me; wouldn't be the first time either, only it felt like this time my luck finally ran out" She morosely finished.

"That… must have been nerve wracking, but you escaped that one right?"

"No… I didn't. When I came to, I was in this building filled with old people too senile to remember the last five minutes of their life let alone all of it. But they were surrounded by family, and even though they weren't that far from passing on; they looked happy. Like they lived a truly fulfilling life and were leaving behind something special behind to mark their passing. A legacy, not recognized merely from achievements but people they shared an intimate connection to and whose lives they touched"

"So what else happened? That can't be everything" I doubtfully stated.

"It wasn't. At first I just ignored everyone, knowing that they were just illusions from the trapdoor's insidious magic. But try as I might, I couldn't find the door out anywhere. And that's when I found her…" She had a haunted look in her eyes as she spoke.

"Found who?" I asked, curious at this new development.

"Myself… or at least a much older version of myself. She was wrinkled, had those ugly looking reading glasses on, wore a black peignoir, and was turned away from me on her rocking chair. The only thing that hadn't changed was the shade of her hair… still those solid stripes of gray" She gave a mirthless chuckle before continuing.

"She was alone… her only company were countless awards and recognition plaques and trophies that only served to gather rust and dust. Despite all of her fame and recognition, she was desolate and forlorn…. empty. Then she turned to face me… staring through me with those accusing eyes 'Why?' She said, 'Why did you let this happen to me? Countless times we had the chance to share ourselves with someone else but you let our ambition get in the way. Any people we could call friend absolutely alienated by our indifference. Well this is where it gets you kiddo. Sitting by yourself idly wasting away while yearning for the old days and remembering the old regrets of our life. So tell me… do you still think that it's worth it?"

"That's heavy" Was all I could manage, what else could I say to that?

She continued as though she hadn't heard me, "I couldn't answer her, but somewhere deep down I knew she had a point. I have some pretty big goals for myself… but what's the point if it's only going to be _by_ _myself_? I turned and ran faster than I ever had, dead set on finding the door out that place. The overwhelming realization that I would end up like that was bearing down on me with a greater intensity than any deathtrap"

At that point I had heard enough, I swept her up in a fierce hug (Not usually my style, but she needed one) before granting her some reassurance.

"You will _NOT _end up alone Daring, and I promise that as your friend" '_Still too used to calling them mutual acquaintances_' "That as long as I have anything to say about it, I will always be there for you through thick and thin… and to carry you home when you've had too much to drink" That last bit gave her the ghost of a smile. '_Consoling mission a success!_'

"You really mean that?" Her emotional disposition would be made or broken depending on my response.

"Word for word" I truthfully replied.

"Thank you… that means so much to me" She leaned into the hug, pulling herself back from the brink of despair.

"Just call on me when you need someone to share your burden with, I make a great pack mule remember?" I humorously poked, eliciting a soft chuckle from previously distraught woman.

"Lousy ride though" She grinningly riposted, sneaking in some subtle innuendo as well.

"Ha! You never complained" I volleyed back.

"Yeah yeah…so I've told you everything I saw, now it's time for you to cough up the truth" She switched gears back to the topic at hand.

'_Darn, I was hoping that she'd forget_' I groused disappointedly.

I let out a short sigh, mentally preparing myself to disclose just what I experienced with the third doorway.

"A deal's a deal, lemme just find the words to describe what I saw and how it made me feel about all of this" I waved around a finger in emphasis.

"So I was in relatively high spirits after the second, I managed to subvert an insulting perversion of a favored childhood pastime of mine using simple video game logic. However, the next door certainly didn't pull any punches"

"What did it show you?" Daring inquired of me, ignoring the strange 'video game' words.

I stared at her with a neutral expression, "My life… or at least my life the way it was before I wound up here"

"And how exactly does that equate to your worst fear?" It was apparently Daring's turn to be skeptical.

"It's not so much a fear as it is something that I despise with every fiber of my being, just living a tedious, boring, needlessly convoluted, and most importantly _unfulfilling_ life. But that's not really the part that got to me…what got to me was the fact that everything that I was experiencing thus far could just be an illusion. And for all I knew, I could be comatose and dreaming this entire thing up. The door must have somehow sensed my insecurities because the flow of images only got worse, from my parents grieving over me by a hospital bedside to all the people who would still miss me even though I was never a terribly outgoing person"

"You thought that everything you went through- that _WE_ went through, was only an illusion?" Daring asked before making me look into her ruby red eyes, "That I was just a figment of your imagination?" She actually sounded hurt.

I scoffed at the ludicrous notion, "I never said I gave in to my fears. That vile dark magic was prying at my mental defenses just looking for a weak spot… it could never find any though"

"Yeah? And why was that _oh impervious_ one?" She wisecracked to me.

"Because I have a remarkable ability to rationalize away all my fears and doubts. For instance even _IF _this was all a hallucination, then there's no point fretting over it. It's obviously not something I can change on my own power so I might as well enjoy it while the going's good. They say that if you're in crazy town, then you might as well have a good time. But if it makes you feel a little less insulted at having your very existence questioned, I don't believe for a single moment that this is just illusory" I confidently explained.

"What makes you so sure of it?"

"Because you're too incredible to simply be an echo of my mind. Besides... look at all of this!" I gestured to the picturesque passing landscapes below, "I'm not that imaginative" I grinned cheekily at the slight blush on her face from my first sentence.

"It didn't stop the door from throwing some salt in the wound though" I continued, "The doorway out eventually revealed itself. But before I could turn the knob and escape that dreadful place, a voice that I _felt_ instead of heard told me that I would never see my home or my loved ones again. If I wasn't an expert at keeping my emotions in check, that would have been the straw that broke the camel's back. _Nothing_ and _nobody_ rubs that detestable truth in my face" I bitterly concluded, wishing I could go back and dismantle those bloody doors myself.

Daring looked sympathetic but couldn't seem to find the right words to say. I could understand entirely, she already lost her family long ago so she had already made peace with it.

"Bah! Enough with this empathetically charged subject, how much longer before we reach Concordia?" I impatiently asked, tapping my foot against the wooden planking of the deck.

"At this speed and with a good tailwind? A good three hours or so" She answered.

Doing some quick mental calculations with what I knew, I came to the conclusion that the Krystal Kingdom was a little over two hundred and fifty kilometers from the Arcanian capital. I would have made an exasperated groaning noise at the excessive amount of time it would still take to reach our destination, but I had my ultimate time traveling material on hand. Music!

"Yo Daring, wanna know how I pass the time during long delays?" I grinned at her.

"Uhm… sure! This ship can practically run itself so I got plenty of time"

I whipped out my handy dandy IPod from my jean pockets and showed it to Daring, who stared at its glossy surface in a mix of confusion and wonderment.

"What is that thing? A vanity mirror?" She humorously asked.

"What? No! This is my IPod and it has a great multitude of uses, but for now it shall act as our music player" I explained with some mounting frustration at the vanity jab.

"That tiny little thing? But how? The only music players I know of are those clunky looking phonographs and music boxes"

"An IPod is like the _GREAT great _grandchild of those devices. (Putting it mildly to say the least) It has speakers of its own built in, but the best sound quality is with these" I pulled them out from underneath my polo shirt's collar, "These are in-ear headphones, they let me listen to my music in private. On top of it, they're noise isolating so I don't have to worry about outside interference interrupting my listening sessions"

"And what kind of magic allows for such things?" She dubiously asked.

"Only the magic of technology my dear uninformed companion" I sniffed at the ridiculous notion of magical headphones, "Electronic signals travel from my IPod along the wires leading to the ear buds, inside each ear bud is a coil that becomes an electromagnet via input from the electrical signals. Those signals cause the coil to vibrate back and forth which in turn cause a diaphragm to expand and contract, this leads to the compressions and rarefactions that correlate to the sounds we hear. The IPod sends the right patterns of signals to produce the correct sounds requested" I took in a deep breath after I finished my mouthful of a laymen's lecture on the inner workers of practically every modern speaker system.

Daring just stared at me like I was one of those little green men from a fifties B-horror film, although instead of fear it was just stupefaction.

"Are you sure you're not talking about magic? Because you lost me after the first few sentences the same way somebody explaining the innermost workings of magic to me does"

"Disregard the technobabble then" I said with a wave of my hand, "And permit me to take you on a journey… starting with Journey" I motioned with my left ear bud to her, which she took with plenty of curiosity and slight hesitation.

"Don't worry, it's not like it'll bite you or something" I said in my best reassuring yet snarky voice.

"I know that!" She indignantly replied, "It's just that I don't know what to do with it"

"Here" I scooted closer and took it from her hand, the brush of skin contact causing her face to heat up. I would have made a snippy comment about it but it made my heart rate rise too, much to my consternation. I parted her silky, lustrous, greyscale hair and inserted the headphone into her left ear. I selected the song on my IPod and pressed play, within seconds the woman's face lit up with excitement and marvelment as the smooth tunes flooded her brain with the sensation of harmonious yet upbeat sound. (I tend to exalt legendary bands like Journey in case you haven't noticed)

"This is incredible! It's almost like having your own private concert playing in your head!" She gushed.

"And that's only half of the full experience" I grinningly mentioned while tapping my right ear bud for emphasis.

And so three and a quarter hours passed by in what felt like one. Daring becoming even more drawn in as we cycled through a vast array of artists and genres. She had a liking for fast pace rock and electronic tracks, anything that possessed a good beat had her completely hooked. I found her fixation on Daft Punk's latest album to be particularly endearing, seeing her bob back and forth to the straight funk of 'Get Lucky' was weapon's grade adorable. I withheld showing her some of my favorite band's music for fear of overwhelming her with the sheer amount of Epic that is _Muse_.

Strangely enough, once I hit the shuffle function I began to hear music outside of my right ear bud being piped in. I glanced down at the screen to see a rather famous duet song displayed, which was oddly fitting given the situation we both found ourselves currently in. Shrugging to myself at yet another of this world's mysteries, I extracted the headphones from both myself and Daring before standing up and offering her a hand that she graciously accepted. I led her to the main deck where we had the most space for this outlandish phenomenon.

'_This world wants a cheesy duet? Then we'll give it a helluva duet_'

Knowing that musical magic was at play here, I didn't have to second guess the fact that Daring knew the lyrics beforehand without ever having heard the song in her life. I let the jazzy and classy groove of the introduction resonate throughout my body before beginning the vocals. I didn't even raise a brow at how my voice took on an even sexier pitch of baritone. Or how Daring's voice emulated Gwyneth Paltrow's while keeping her own unique flair as we swayed side to side on the deck.

Me: _Baby lets cruise,_

D: _away from here_

Me: _Don't be confused,_

D: _the way is clear_

Me and D: _And if you want it, you got it forever_

Me and D: _This is not a one night stand_

D: _baby, yeah_

Me and D: _So, let the music take your mind_

_Just release and you will find_

Me and D: _You're gonna fly away, glad you're goin' my way_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

_Music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

Me: _Baby tonight,_

D: _belongs to us_

Me: _Everything right,_

D: do what you must

Me and D: _And inch by inch we get closer and closer_

_To every lil' part of each other, _

D: _ooh baby yeah_

Me: _So, _

Me and D:_ let the music take your mind_

_Just release and you will find_

Me and D:_ You're gonna fly away, glad you're goin' my way_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

_Music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

Me and D:_ Cruise with me baby, ooh yeah ooh_

_Ooh baby, let's cruise, _

D:_ let's float, let's glide_

_Ooh, let's open up, _

D:_ and go inside_

Me and D:_ And if you want it, you got it forever_

_I could just stay here beside you and love you baby_

_Let the music take your mind_

_Just release and… _

Me: _you will find!_

Me and D:_ You're gonna fly away, glad you're goin' my way_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

_Music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

Me and D:_ You're gonna fly away, glad you're goin' my way_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together_

_Music is played for love, cruisin' is made for love_

_I love it when, I love it, I love it, I love it, ooh_

Me:_ Cruise with me baby, _

D:_ I love it when we're cruisin together_

We finally came into view of the mountain that housed the capital city of the entire Arcanian nation just as the final notes of the duet played their last tune. Concordia wasn't quite what I was expecting; it looked much more futuristic and even utopian in its architecture than I initially anticipated. Nestled firmly in the bosom of the mountain and standing tall over the surrounding landscape, the majestic city gleamed proudly in the light of the midday sun. Glistening minaret like ivory spires with flower bulb shaped domes dotted the skyline of the upper city; most were flying colors of some sort that billowed in the winds. Waterfalls cascaded down multiple channels running earthward via reservoirs in the mountain peak and through much of the city, which only served to add to the visual grandeur that was the Capital of Arcania.

There was more to the city than just the palatial district extending out against the mountain, an entire valley plateau carved into the mountain allowed for a large residential district filled with shops and homes to exist alongside the much grander structures next door. Even from this distance I could see the countless dots of people scurrying up and down the streets like so many busy bees.

Concordia wasn't the only city in vantage point; just on the horizon was a massive grouping of clouds that were shaped conspicuously like an airborne megalopolis, I made it a secondary priority to find out if it went by the name of Cloudsdale as well. The surrounding airspace was also speckled with the occasional airship either heading toward the city's many docking ports or departing from it. Based on our present course, we were heading for one of these docks ourselves. Daring left me to gaze in amazement at the wondrous city and sauntered over to the wheel to guide the ship in herself.

But not before getting a word in edgewise.

"So what'ya think? Does Concordia not hold a candle to that Coro-scant?" She smugly inquired, wholly slaughtering the pronunciation of the ecumenopolis.

"It's Coruscant" I properly enunciated for her, "…and while I admit that the city is indeed impressive, it pales in comparison to a city that encompasses an entire planet"

I gave an amused snort. While this city had its own quaint charm, but I never compare oranges to apples; especially when it's an entire orchard of perfect apples in question.

"Is that where you come from?" Daring slowly asked, flabbergasted at the idea of a planet wide city.

"Uhm no… it's just a place I've seen" I half truthed.

"You continue to mystify me Zenith" She said with a vexed shake of her head.

'_You and Crystal both, I gotta remember to write a letter to her sometime so I don't forget_' I added that to my mental checklist.

We decreased altitude to become level with one of the mid-city docking harbors. A large rectangular box at the head of each port entrance glowed with one of two lights. For what I could deduce, they were red if the dock was closed off or already occupied by a vessel and green when it was open for docking.

'_Just like a stop and go light from back home_' I observed, once again befuddled by the similarities shared between the two worlds.

Thanks to the four very powerful and mobile fan blades propelling us, as well as Daring's skill at the helm. We parked the _Magnificent Maverick_ in half the time and twice the professionalism. The engines powering down as the sharp chopping noise of the fan blades was gradually reduced to a soft 'shooping' that signaled our arrival. A couple of dock workers scurried forward to catch the mooring lines that Daring casually tossed overboard before extending a ramp over to us. My companion then swung open a gate built into the railing of her ship and directed the dock workers to place the runged slab of wood at the foothold. I briskly retreated back to my bunk to retrieve my things before rejoining my friend on the deck. We proceeded to disembark and I took my first steps into the Capital City of Concordia.

'_I thought this would feel more memorable…bah, I'm just being jaded_' I had to stop to avoid bumping into a rotated Daring, who promptly gave me quick instructions.

"Wait here for me okay? I have to register the mighty mav' with this level's harbor master, mister gangplank" Daring explained with a hint of pride for her ship.

I nodded in understanding as she walked into an official looking building to square that away. I took that time to ponder my next course of action.

'_So here I am in the grand city of Concordia, I've got a little over three hundred bits on my person and although I'm not exactly loaded it should be enough to cover most of my expenses in this city. What's next though? I can't really explore the rest of Arcania without securing some additional income first, and I doubt that this city has many renegade dragon bounties to pursue_' I had to cut my musings short once more as Daring had apparently finished her business in the harbor office.

"That was awfully quick! Are the bureaucratic systems here more efficient than I originally guessed or are you just an express customer?" I quipped.

"The latter, Gangplank took one look at me and added the Mav' to the registry with no additional paperwork necessary, since it's already associated with the institute which is itself sponsored by the Concordia local government" She explained, which only piqued my curiosity.

"How does local government work around here? I doubt the Princesses make all of the decisions around here"

"Of course they don't! However they do have the final say on all measures that involve the benefit of the whole nation or dealings with the neighboring countries. All other mundane tasks are for the municipal governments to handle"

"So it's like a bureaucratic oligarchy?" I guessed.

"Something like that, I don't know all the details since I rarely stay in country longer than a couple weeks anyway. Besides… I hate politics" She finished with a chuckle as we made our way to a street filled with pedestrians… and equestrians evidently (Not that kind!). Men on horseback trotted up and down the stony marble avenues alongside honest to goodness horse drawn trolleys that ferried their passengers to their destinations.

We lined up at one of the 'bus stops' along with other well-dressed bystanders for one of these antique rides. I honestly felt very much out of place, it was like being placed in Victorian era London for me. The city had a very quaint allure to it, but not really something that I'd put myself through without mentally preparing myself in advance. I was thankful that people here had the presence of mind to ignore the fact that my partner and I stood out from the crowd like two flamboyant flamingos amongst elegant swans. Even more so since we didn't have those bindi jewels that 85% of the local population was sporting on their foreheads; marking this city as having a stellar mage population majority. It was interesting to note that most of the forehead jewels I saw correlated with a person's iris color, though not always.

We paid the inexpensive toll and sat on the wooden benches of the trolley, my backpack situated firmly on my lap. The driver gave a light crack of his riding whip and the two draft horses resumed towing the long carriage down the city's many winding streets.

"So what's our first order of business?" I asked of the woman sitting next to me.

"Well I don't know about you, but I've gotta report my success and additional findings to the institute" She gave a long and tired sigh; I guess she didn't care for the more tedious parts of her job.

"I could accompany you so that you don't get too bored" I graciously offered.

"I appreciate the thought, but I have to do this myself. Why don't you go and explore the city for a bit? There's plenty to see and do here in the capital" She said with a hint of yearning, most likely wanting to tag along herself.

"And risk coming off to the locals as a clueless tourist? I think I'll take a rain check on that" I said with a roll of my eyes, "Perhaps you can show me yourself around once you finish up with your business here?" I hopefully inquired.

"Of course I will! But unless you want to spend the next half day skulking around aimlessly, I suggest you find something to do in the meantime"

"How will we meet up again? I might stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd but this city isn't exactly small" I reasonably asked.

"I have my methods for keeping track of people and the places they're located" She replied with an enigmatic grin, "Speaking of which, this is where I get off!" She pulled on a string above us that rang a bell, signaling the driver to stop.

'_Wait… what?_' I made a mental note to check myself for a tracking beacon later.

The trolley came to a slow standstill and the adventuress hopped off the transport and headed straight for a rather unassuming row of buildings before I could manage another word. They were distinct only by the fact that they were sealed off from the rest of the surrounding city by a perimeter of wrought iron fencing, which culminated into a metal gate with a fancy ovular emblem that Daring passed through once she waved that medallion of hers to the gatekeepers standing vigilantly by the entrance.

Feeling a little irked at being so unceremoniously abandoned to my own devices in the city, I sagged in my seat; feeling content to stay idle until I found a destination that grabbed my attention. What more could I do? I was lost amongst the urban sprawl of an alien city without a map, and I highly doubted that my good sense of direction would point me anywhere without a magnetizing prompt. And so a good few hours melted away as I surveyed multiple locales that the native population visited frequently; busy markets, carefree coffee shops, jam-packed pubs, fancy looking restaurants, places of business… and the occasional burlesque theatre or two.

'_Ah… the joys of public transit_' I sarcastically quipped in my intense mental boredom; if something didn't catch my eye soon I'd probably fall asleep right there. I was close to giving up on finding anything to occupy myself with when I heard the muffled sounds of music coming from what looked like some kind of snazzy jazz club. Deciding that I had nothing better to do, I rung the bell and stepped off of the trolley with my pack before making my way towards said club. I decided to ignore the murmured "Took him long enough…" comment from the trolley man.

Day began to transition into the early stages of dusk as the Sun sank into the horizon, no doubt being moved by the Celestial Princess herself. Contrary to some of my preconceived ideas, she did not lower the stellar body in a manner befitting a clock with 'ticking' motions. Rather, it gradually submerged below the horizon just like it normally would back home; which of course gave my distrustful proclivities reason to doubt Celestia's claim to rule. I quickly disparaged that line of thought; I wasn't here to incite any kind of fiery revolution after all.

It really was shaping up to be a beautiful night though, being this high up meant that the evening air had a pleasant crisp chill to it. One by one the Stars began to reveal themselves and twinkle in the night sky. Those tiny sparkling dots up there were something I've always found captivating; and despite how well lit the city was, there wasn't any 'light pollution' to drown out all but the brightest Stars. The open aired and rotund platform section of the city I was currently in offered absolutely breathtaking views into space; I could see nebulae, short lived meteors, and even the cosmic vapors composing whatever galaxy that this planet inhabited. I took in a deep breath as I Stargazed, it was…

"Glorious" I exhaled in satisfaction.

Believing that I had delayed long enough, I resumed my heading towards the melody exuding building. The gilded brass letters adorning the doors read '_The Lofty Lounge_' and given that it overlooked half of the now shadow veiled verdant valley below; I supposed that it was an apt name. I passed through the doors and was instantly met with a dimly lit and tranquilizing atmosphere. Debonair looking patrons wined and dined in relative silence while listening to the quartet of musicians onstage. It was a setup not unlike the Gemmed Tankard from last night; with a pianist, drummer, a bass guitarist with a saxophone on a stand next to himself, and what looked like a cellist (Although they were shrouded by darkness so I couldn't see them clearly). Although I highly doubted that the customers would prove as carousal or raucous as those back in the Krystal Kingdom, they did seem to be the more refined type after all.

Grateful that this wasn't one of those places that required a reservation to attend, I grabbed an unoccupied corner booth table with cushioned seats near the entry and set my stuff down before perusing the menu selections. As to be expected of such places, most dishes were exorbitantly priced in the forty bit range; even more if you tacked on some liquid courage. A waiter dressed in one of those stereotypical albeit dapper looking black and white suits made his way over to my table posthaste.

"Good evening sir and welcome to the Lofty Lounge, how can I serve you this lovely night?" He put on a businesslike but sincere enough smile.

"I've yet to decide on an entrée, however the mint raspberry lemonade sounds like a good starter" '_It better be for ten bits!_'

"Very well sir, I'll retrieve your drink and give you some time to decide what your main course will be" He gave a quick bow before scurrying off to the kitchen to do so. Since he didn't comment on my choice of casual attire, I deduced that they also didn't have a strict dress code that I had to adhere to. Still...compared to some of these people I may as well have been wearing sackcloth for all my sense of vogue. Not that I really cared but the point still stands.

'_I must commend the serving staff for their good sense of providing excellent service though, probably with a nice tip. Ten percent is pretty generous right?_'

After an intense mental debate between getting the steak with lobster mashed potatoes and the venison piccata with linguine, the red blooded American in me determined that good ol' fashioned meat and potatoes won out over pasta any day of the week. I made sure to inform the waiter of my choice after he delivered the somewhat costly drink to my table. I sipped at it in silence as I let the ongoing music sooth and stimulate me, the tune sounding suspiciously similar to 'Smooth Operator' except without Sade's voice. But I paid it no mind, content as I was to relax and enjoy the revitalizing taste of my minty fruit drink.

Another hour passed as I feasted on my three course meal as soon as it arrived, I was practically rejoicing that the portions there weren't pathetically miniscule like so many other expensive restaurants that I've eaten at. There was a lull in the entertainment as one of the members; the cellist apparently, decided to take a respite from performing while the other three re-tuned their instruments or got a drink at the bar. I figured that was about it for the night as I had finished my meal and the music that drew me in was no longer saturating the air with its pleasantness.

That was until a rather debonair looking fellow with an awesome handlebar mustache took the stage and clinked on a wine glass he was holding with what looked like a fondue spoon. The natural acoustics of the lounge allowed for his voice to carry. He spoke in gravelly baritone voice that rivaled Louis Armstrong's yet had a somewhat ostentatious and clipped accent; it was a very odd combination to be sure.

"Good evening everyone and thank you for your attention. As most of you know I am Smooth Jazz, the owner and proprietor of this fine establishment. As most of my regulars are also aware of, every Friday we select one random member from the audience to participate in their own cabaret! Just a minor idea I came up with to liven up the mood and provide a bit of a breakaway from these stuffy old tossers!" He jokingly indicated with a flick of his thumb towards the three musicians who were fiddling with their instruments or guzzling down their alcohol.

"We love you too Jazz!" One them responded in good humor.

"Now remember, even if the light does fall on you, that doesn't mean that you are obligated to come up here where we will all most likely be _watching your every move and silently judging you_" He jocosely admitted with a wry smile, eliciting a string of chuckles from the audience.

"Spotlight please!" He commanded with a raised index finger. A light worker on an indoor balcony switched on a limelight and began to scour the various patrons in search of a sucker (in my opinion) to either provide entertainment or be silently ridiculed by their peers. The light worker even had some fun with the crowd by pretending to focus the light on one person until they started getting anxious before swiftly moving on to the next and final victim. Unfortunately, that victim happened to be me. Seeing as I was all by my lonesome in the corner, they must have seen me as easy prey for their sick entertainment.

'_Okay maybe I'm being a little dramatic_'

Betraying nothing of my displeasure at being singled out, I quietly sighed and stood up from my seat to make my way toward the modestly sized curtained stage where the lounge owner stood, the stage light (and the stares of every person in the lounge) never leaving me once. Once I was finally standing close to him his offered his hand which I slowly took before giving it a firm shake.

"No need to look so dismayed lad! Just for finding the courage to come up here, all your expenses tonight will be exempted! So what's your name my good man?"

"That's very beneficent of you, and call me Zenith" I replied, my munny bag would retain most of its circumference tonight at least.

"I do pride myself on being renowned for magnanimous courtesy. So Zenith! How shall you enthrall the good people who currently compose my clientele?" He asked me as he twisted at his waxed mustache.

"If they wouldn't mind a little more music, then I intend to sing for them" Seeing as no one was tossing any tomatoes yet (If this world was that cliché) I assumed that they didn't mind.

'_Besides, I've been dying to see just how flexible this ambient music magic is_'

"That sounds splendid! Would music happen to be a special talent of yours?" He inquired, since Mana Marks for guys aren't as readily visible as they are for the girls.

"Not exactly, but I do have a penchant for it. Bear with me though, it won't be anything jazzy"

"That's quite alright laddie! It's your stage for tonight, feel free to delight us as you see fit!" And with that, he exited stage left to his own private booth.

I stared at the three musicians who remained offstage at the bar. Did they expect me to do this by myself?

"*Ahem* Gentlemen… if you would assist me please?"

"Assist you how? We don't know what you're going to sing" One of them questioningly piped up.

"It'll come to you, _trust me_" I replied with a knowing smirk. Begrudgingly, they quickly downed their drinks before manning their instruments on the stage.

Spotting an acoustic guitar on a stand next to a wooden stool, I strolled on over to pick it up and sit down. It wasn't the body shape I was used to (a dreadnought versus my cut away grand auditorium) but I figured it didn't really matter since it was only three chords I would be strumming anyway. I removed the guitar pick from a custom sleeve in the headstock and examined it.

'_Agate guitar picks? Classy AND functional… nice_'

I gave the guitar an experimental strum, the twang of the six strings resonated in standard tuning and in a rich tonal quality that my regular plastic tortex guitar picks just couldn't afford me. The coffered ceilings and wainscoted wall panels of the miniature auditorium resulted in even the soft sound of the strumming carrying throughout the whole lounge. I nodded my head in bemused satisfaction at the excellent room acoustics.

I glanced back at the other musicians to see if they were ready; a curt nod from all three of them assured me that they were. Without further delay I began to serenade the audience with one of my favorite songs.

_Looking for something I've never seen,_

_Alone and I'm in between_

_The place that I'm from and_

_The place that I'm in,_

_A city I never been_

_I found a friend or should I say a foe,_

_Said there's a few things you should know_

_We don't want you to see,_

_We come and we go_

_Here today, gone tomorrow_

As I figured, my fellow musicians instantly got with the program and provided the appropriate instrumentation; once more I marveled at the gaps that magic could simply fill in.

_Were only taking turns,_

_Holding this world_

_It's how it's always been,_

_When you're older, you will understand_

Many of the lyrics of this piece were oddly fitting my mood as of late, and as such I sang with the raw emotion befitting such a powerful song. All eyes were on me as I continued to strum and fill the air with the profound lyrics that Isaac Slade wrote when composing this song.

_If I say who I know it just goes to show,_

_You need me less than I need you_

_But take it from me we don't give sympathy,_

_You can trust me trust nobody_

_But I said you and me we don't have honesty,_

_The things we don't want to speak_

_I'll try to get out but I never will,_

_This traffic is perfectly still_

My compatriot accompanists were truly drawn into the song, providing the chorus with their eyes closed in thoughtful introspection. The sheer synchrony of our voices was almost haunting in a way. To me this song has always been about feeling alone even when surrounded by people, but to also make the most of the time we've been given in this life.

_We're only taking turns, (taking turns)_

_Holding this world_

_It's how it's always been, (always been)_

_When you're older you will understand!_

The sudden crescendo had all but completely floored the audience as the song suddenly ramped up in both tempo and intensity. I could tell by the shocked looked on their faces that they were not expecting it; I grinned to myself, neither did I my first time hearing this enchanting song.

_And then again maybe you don't!_

_And then again maybe you won't!_

_(We're only taking turns!)_

_Were only taking turns,_

_Holding this world_

_It's how it's always been,_

_When you're older, you will understand_

_When you're older you might understand,_

_When you're older you might understand_

As the final drum taps heralded the end of the song, I exhaled a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in. The arrant cathartic release that the song demanded of me was a tad exhausting on my mental faculties. Still… it felt damn good to let it all out. I was arisen from my self-reflection by the slow sound of intermittent claps that gradually escalated into a standing ovation from the entire crowd. Smooth Jazz enthusiastically made his way to my side amid the applause, grasping my hand and shaking it fervently.

"Good show lad! Good show! That was positively magnificent! I've never heard anything like it!" He beamed at me.

"I presume everyone here is sufficiently pleased?" I rhetorically asked, seeing as they were still ecstatically cheering.

"I dare say they are dear boy! If I had a performance like that hosted every night, my lounge would be the toast of the town! You wouldn't happen to be employable would you?" He hopefully asked of me.

"I'm afraid this will be a one-time gig. But if I ever find myself here again, I'll be sure to pay this place another visit" Was my tactful excuse. '_I've lingered here a bit too long anyhow_'

His smile never faltered, "That's quite alright lad, I find that the best acts occur in their own time" He finally let go of my hand and I excused myself back to my table.

'_Jolly fellow ain't he?_' I thought to myself as I ducked past tables and the scrutinizing stares of their various well-dressed occupants. My normally acute hearing; which itself was even further enhanced by my Valkyrian senses, picked up on the cacophony of hushed comments coming from the clustered congregation.

"…Unlike anything I ever heard…"

"…His attire is rather simple…"

"…Such talent for a non-magi…" '_Gee…supremist much?_'

"…a handsome looking gentleman isn't he?"

That last one almost made me stumble, barely three and a half minutes of singing and already they were appraising me for my looks. I shook my head in disbelief; I still had half a drink left at my table that I intended to finish before leaving and the cracks from the peanut gallery wouldn't lessen my resolve.

I downed the last of my drink in one mighty swig and fished out a ten bit piece from my munny pouch. I waved down my waiter from earlier and gave it to him, he seemed surprised at what he saw as a very ample tip but I assured him that he earned it. He bowed appreciatively before resuming his attendance of the other tables. I was occupying myself with rifling through my belongings again in search of a contrivance to keep me busy for the rest of the night when the sound of someone approaching and stopping just shy of my table addressed my ears.

"Would you mind terribly if I joined you for a spell?" The refined but euphonious sounding voice of a woman requested of me.

'_Strange choice of words but whatever_'

"Feel at ease" I automatically responded with a flick of my free hand, engaged as I was to sifting through my possessions. The sound of the booth cushions opposite of me compressing informed that she did just that. I could have sworn I saw a faint glow coming from one of zipper compartments of my backpack. However, not wanting to come off as rude by ignoring her, I temporarily ceased my rummaging and gave her my full attention. It's a good thing I did; else I would have risked marginalizing a fairly important person.

In retrospect, I should have had a stronger suspicion as to who the mystery cellist was. But I wasn't exactly expecting her to moonlight at a jazz lounge that I happened to have picked, let alone have caught enough of her attention to warrant this colloquy. Though I suppose an artist has to find ways to earn their bread and butter somehow, and I doubt there's a grand symphony hosted in this city 24/7.

I stared…a minor expression of astonishment on my face. Quietly coughing to myself to recover, I refaced my table guest with my usual passive countenance.

'_Uh...quick! Compliment her to break the ice!_'

"You'll have to forgive my slight faux pas; I was simply…caught off guard by your prodigious beauty"

Her cheeks briefly lit up before she regained her composure, "Well, you certainly are the charmer aren't you?"

'_Smooth_' I mentally high fived myself.

"So how can I be of assistance miss…?" I purposely trailed off as I extended an open hand towards her.

"Octavia" She shook my hand amicably, "Octavia Philharmonica"

"Ah... I thought you looked familiar" I inwardly chuckled, how could I not recognize her? The purple treble clef Mana Marks on her hands and the classy bowtie are a dead giveaway.

"Yes, I have performed with the Royal Concordian Orchestra on occasion. Perhaps you recognize me from one of their concerts?" She looked appreciative, no doubt pleased to have fans.

'_If only you knew_'

"I've personally never had the pleasure of attending one, but I have no doubts that they are _magnifique_ in their scope and grandeur" This was high praise coming from someone as cynical as me.

"Especially with someone with your musical caliber in their ranks" I additionally and shamelessly complimented.

"You're sweet… but it isn't my 'musical caliber' that I wish to discuss" She said as she narrowed her analytical gaze on me.

"Then what is it you wish to discuss milady?" A Shakespearean tone once more sneaking its way into my voice as I held her steady gaze.

"Why yours of course! You single handedly brought on a harmonious synchronization event by performing on that stage! I like to consider myself well versed in the musical arts, but only those with a truly powerful calling are capable of doing such so casually by themselves" She spouted in near fervent disbelief before continuing, "You must tell me how you are capable of such things, think of what you could bring to the world of music!" She looked at me with a hint of desperation in her lovely orchid colored eyes.

"Well… I have my doubts about showing you how to bring about those 'sync events' you mentioned since they kinda just… happen" I saw the spark of hope start to go out in her eyes, "However! I will be more than able to show you a whole new world's worth of music" I saw the spark restored as she beamed me a wonderful smile.

"Although I don't quite wish to discuss the particulars of which in the 'rays of the public sun' if you catch my meaning" I motioned with my eyes towards the less than subtle patrons glancing in our direction and murmuring to each other.

"Yes of course! I second the motion that we should continue this 'most enlightening' dialogue someplace more secluded, my abode perhaps? She offered.

"Oh.. I wouldn't want to impose-" I began.

"Nonsense! This is an opportunity to learn from each other! Think of what it could mean for the arts!" She quickly batted away my flimsy excuse.

'_An incredibly beautiful musician inviting me into her home to talk about furthering the arts? Hell, I'm game_'

'_I bet another part of you is game too_' My prurient side pointed out.

'_Shut up Brain_'

"Very well" I sighed as I rose from my seat, "Shall we away?" I gestured to the exit.

"Let us away. My tenure here has expired for the night" She explained as she made way to the doors.

I grabbed my stuff and set it on my back, looking more and more out of place in the fancy restaurant slash jazz lounge. I bid it a fond farewell by grabbing a hearty handful of those complimentary mint candies on the way out. Popping one into my mouth, I swung the door open to join Octavia outside.

I found my newest acquaintance staring up at the sky just outside the lounge in a manner not so different from that of myself not three hours ago. I silently crept up to her side and observed the starry panorama with her. After five minutes or so of night watching, she finally broke the silence.

"Sublime isn't it? Our Royal Princess of the Night has outdone herself once again. I've always found myself struck with the nocturnal aspects of the sky, the milky glow the moon casts over the land that illuminates everything the lanterns don't, the cool caress of the eventide air against my skin, and of course the countless stars themselves. Whenever I want to feel inspired enough to compose my own sonatas or even when I want to unwind after a stressful day, I need only turn to the night sky to feel rejuvenated and replenished down to the core of my very being… that and a good cup of coffee the next morning" She breathed out a sigh, finished with her soliloquy.

"You and I have that in common then, minus the coffee of course" I chuckled to myself, "And I think you'll be enchanted by the few nocturnes I possess"

I motioned for her to lead the way, to which she complied and we began treading the cobblestone roads of Concordia in search of Octavia's residence. Since it was getting late, the streets were all but bereft of people, with only a few stragglers here and there save for us. We resumed our discourse along the way.

"I'm afraid I do not own a piano, so that could complicate matters" She apologetically explained.

"That's perfectly alright; I have a way of showing you that bypasses the need for one completely" I smirked like a game shark with a trump card up his sleeve, I wonder what her reaction to technology would be?

"I'm most curious as to how, you don't look like a musically inclined magi" She raised a critical brow at me.

"I'm not, but what I have to show you is just as functional. And you don't even need to know magic in order to use it" She still looked unconvinced, but soon her doubts would evaporate like fog in the warm light of the Sun.

'_Technology doesn't believe in gender discrimination!_'

"Tell me more about yourself… Zenith was it?" I nodded my confirmation, "You're from out of the city yes?"

"What gave it away?" I responded with some harmless snark.

"A good number of things. You don't have the pretentious accent that most residents here converse with; something I find very refreshing by the way, you also don't seem to submit to or even mind the unofficial dress code that people here hold each other to, and you have the _uncommon_ courtesy to look me in the eyes instead of less than proper areas when I speak to you" She listed as she peered into my piercing crimson irises with a commending smile.

'_What, the nobles here trying to sneak a peek?_'

"In a similar vein, you have the most striking pair of red eyes I've seen since…" She looked deep in remembrance, "Since an old roommate of mine back in my academy days"

"Lemme guess, she was obscenely agitating, obnoxious, and loved to crank up the volume until she was blasting out the windows" The stunned look on her face suggested that I hit the nail on the head.

"H-how did you know that!? Did you know her?" She asked, absolutely flummoxed.

"Call it a hunch, and not directly no. I've seen and put up with enough perturbing roommates to have a whole rap sheet that classifies them according to their unique 'quirks' and such" One of the reasons I never lived on university campuses.

'_Although it's the incredibly weird ones that have a way of growing on you_' I conceded to myself.

"I see…your eerie clairvoyance notwithstanding, we have finally arrived at my humble domicile"

Hers was an apartment from the looks of it, located on a winding city street in close proximity to the Palace grounds. All things considered, it wasn't a half bad spot to be situated. Even if it was directly under the watchful eyes of the Princesses.

"Well? Aren't you going to come in?" Octavia asked with a hint of amusement hidden in her voice. I then realized that I idled too long surveying the area.

"Yeah! Just taking in the sights is all" I crossed the threshold and climbed the stairs with the musician.

They led to your average hall filled with doors leading to the respective apartment rooms. Octavia produced a key from her person and inserted it into the tumblers of the lock before fumbling with the knob and opening the door with a slight creak. It was completely dark at first until the woman struck a match and lit a few strategically planted candles, giving the living room muted but adequate lighting. It also smelled faintly of…lilacs?

'_Ooh…scented candles, how aromatic… or romantic depending on the context_' I awkwardly finished that thought; we weren't going to be creating _that_ kind of sweet music!

Overall it wasn't too shabby of a place, it had wood panel flooring with snug looking rugs placed where the furniture was, photographs of cherished moments in Octavia's life, and an impeccably polished and well cared for Cello on a stand in its own special corner in the living room. Simple, but I couldn't describe it as Spartan; nor was it modest by any stretch of the imagination. I mean look at that sofa! It was fully decked out with tasseled pillows and decorative shawls, who does that? Then I remembered that I was in the apartment of a woman who likely appreciated the finer things in life. The small crystal chandelier over the dining table was a nice touch though.

"So could I interest you in refreshments? A glass of champagne perhaps?" My hostess politely inquired.

"That won't be necessary, I don't imbibe. Thank you for your kind offer though" I replied with a curt wave of my hand before plopping down on the sofa.

It was inexplicably comfortable…like the soft embrace of a thousand leathery teddy bears, except less disturbing and more captivating. Shaking off the otherworldly feeling of absolute posterior bliss, I reached into my backpack to retrieve my laptop before setting it down on the coffee table; which fittingly enough had the barest traces of spilled coffee stains on it.

I noticed Octavia had brewed herself a cup of joe and had sat right down next to me looking at it in wonder.

"May I ask what that is?" The curious musician inquired.

"This my dear cellist" I flipped open the lid, "Is the medium through which I shall introduce you to music that could not only revolutionize existing musical genres, but evolve new branches through which these 'sync events' can occur" I pressed the power button in an overly histrionic manner to accentuate my previous proclamation.

If I didn't have her full attention before, then I did after the start up chime announced that my laptop had booted up. The animated wallpaper of a chromatic nebula greeted us both.

"This is…I have no words" Was the stunned woman's eked out vocalization.

'_These people have the most unusual reactions to technology; I mean my laptop is pretty freakin sweet, but it doesn't warrant being thunderstruck. Heh, I wonder if she'd like AC/DC?_' I shook my head free of the random tangent.

"This is what is known as a laptop my dear yet confounded Cellist, they were rather commonplace back where I come from but one of a kind in this land. It has a copious amount of uses and functions, but tonight it will soothe your mind and soul with the genius that is Bach's Cello Suites"

I pulled up the ITunes program and selected the song on my classical playlist before pressing the play button. Yeah that's right; I have a classical playlist with musical pieces dating all the way back to the Baroque period… because I'm a classy chap with hidden character depth. Octavia could certainly empathize, she looked like she was pulled into a deep trance the moment Yo-Yo Ma's bow vibrated the strings of the virtual instrument. She stayed glued to that very spot on the sofa for all of the piece's two hours and ten minutes.

It was certainly a very interesting night spent reviewing the majority of the musical pieces I had stored on my laptop, the only thing that felt worrying was the fact that my battery meter still read a hundred percent.

'_Perhaps the indicator was broken? There's no way my laptop could stay charged indefinitely right?_'

Eventually I had to call it quits since it was well past midnight by this point. Octavia graciously offered to let me stay until morning and I was too tired to even bother trying to refuse her proposal. I still had to find a way to meet up with Daring the next morning… or maybe I don't, she did imply that she'd come find me. Hope she won't presume too much by finding me in the apartment of a city (and world's) renowned musician and newly created ITunes junkie. I halfheartedly chuckled; better think of a good excuse beforehand.

My session of dour predictions and pre-crisis management were temporarily interrupted by my hostess, who was now dressed in a luxurious looking bathrobe.

"I'd like to extend my deepest gratitude for showing me all that _exquisite_ music; I have so many new ideas for adapting some of those affettuosos and allegrettos into my own style!" She enthusiastically rhapsodized.

"I'm glad to have imparted some of my land's art unto you" Was my sincere response; you can't be too well informed about culture in my opinion.

"I look forward to discovering _more_ in the coming days" I should have been more concerned with how she emphasized that; but again, too tired for it to really register.

"Good night Miss Octavia"

"Please, just Octavia… and goodnight Zenith" She finished blowing out all the candles but the one on the candelabrum she was holding, before using it to find her way to her own bedroom. Another thing that should have registered with me but didn't was that she left her bedroom door wide open. Hopefully I wouldn't come to regret accepting this woman's suggestion to stay the night at her place.

'_She never said that we were staying over for hot coffee_' My still active logical half reminded me.

'_Sweet dreams_' My exhausted other half responded.

And then I was gone; off to that ethereal realm which was beyond the worries of the physical world.


End file.
